Spin Transport and Dynamics in Nanoscale Hybrid Structures

The objective of this project is to fabricate and characterize nanoscale hybrid tunnel-junction structures that will reveal new physical aspects of the spin-dependent quantum states and dynamic behavior of single electrons. Several interesting effects have been predicted for spindependent transport in ferromagnet (FM)/metal/ferromagnet and FM/superconductor/FM double junctions. One goal is experimentally to verify these theoretical predictions. The approach is to combine the recent advances in single-electron transistors and spin tunnel junctions, with the fabrication of hybrid junction devices using electron-beam lithography and shadow evaporation techniques. This work contributes to current research in the spintronics community and provides a more comprehensive understanding of the spin dynamics needed to develop innovative spin based nanoelectronic devices.