-tron, -tronic, -tronics +

Switches, gates, transistors and other electronic devices built on a molecular scale; a combination of molecular + electronics.

Research in this area is done with the purpose of surpassing the power and the capacity of the silicon-based technology used in current computers.

An electron with a negative charge, as contrasted with a positron.

1. An uncharged elementary particle that has a mass nearly equal to that of the proton and is present in all known atomic nuclei except the hydrogen nucleus.
2. A neutral hadron that is stable in the atomic nucleus but decays into a protron, an electron and an antineutrino with a mean life of 12 minutes outside the nucleus. Neutronics exist in all atomic nuclei except normal hydrogen. Reported in 1932 by James Chadwick.

In electronics, an instrument that photographs and identifies any radioactive gases that remain after an evacuation.

That point, in the real or apparent orbit of one star revolving around another, at which the former is nearest to the latter.

A hot-cathode gas diode that uses an arc discharge in mercury vapor or an inert gas.

A monostable pentode circuit used to generate sharp pulses at an adjustable and accurately timed interval after receipt of a triggering signal.

An electron released or ejected from a substance by photoelectric effect.

Products and technologies that operate using light energy; such as, the term of photons which is combined with electronics; including optical components, imaging sensors and systems, lasers, and fiber optics.

Photonics is an area of study centering around the generation and utilization of radiant energy; such as, light for various applications.

1. A place in which plants can be grown under controlled conditions; for example, a greenhouse.
2. A controllable artificial environment used for the study of plants under well-defined conditions.

1. The hammer form assumed by certain bacilli during sporulation.
2. A small thin device (of metal, plastic, or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument.

A tool of plucking a stringed instrument.

1. An elementary particle having the same mass and magnitude of charge as an electron but exhibiting a positive charge; a positive electron.
2. A positively charged particle of the same mass and magnititude of charge as an electron; a positive electron.

A solitary wave; a quantum or quasiparticle propagated in the manner of a solitary wave.

1. The storage and transfer of information using the spin state of electrons as well as their charge.
2. A new technology exploiting quantum properties of electrons' spin for a new generation of electronic devices.
3. Known as "spin-based electronics" it is also known as magnetoelectronics and it is an emergent technology which exploits the quantum spin states of electrons as well as making use of their charge state.

Spintronics is an advanced form of electronics that harnesses not just the electrical charge of electrons; such as, in conventional electronics; but also a property called "spin" that makes electrons act like tine bar magnets.

Some computers already contain the first and most rudimentary commercial applications of spintronics. Since 1998, hard-drive read heads have used a spintronic effect called giant magnetoresistance to detect the microscopic magnetic domains on a disk that represent the 1's and the 0's of the data it contains.

• Electrons carry both charge and spin, but only spintronic devices exploit the two properties simultaneously to achieve innovative capabilities.
• Spintronics brings us disk-drive read heads and non-volatile memory chips today and perhaps instant-on computers with reconfigurable chips tomorrow.
• Synthetic semi-conducting diamond may be the new silicon for a future era of quantum spintronic technology that manipulates single spins, enabling quantum computers, and other quantum information devices.

The advantages of spintronics