Skoltech is an international graduate research-focused university that was founded by the group of world-renowned scientists in 2011. Skoltech's curriculum focuses on technology and innovation, offering Master's programs in 11 technological disciplines. Students receive rigorous theoretical and practical training, design their own research projects, participate in internships and gain entrepreneurial skills in English. The faculty is comprised of current researchers with international accreditation and achievements.

Spin current separator for liquid light

Scientists from Skoltech and their international collaborators found out how to separate particles with different spins. Manipulations with spins have a great potential for use in modern photonic devises. The results of these studies are highlighted in prestigious journals of Nature group.

In traditional electronic logic devices, information is encoded in the charge of particles propagating through electric circuits. In a similar manner, in the field of spintronics information is encoded on the spin of particles. While spintronics has a number of advantages over conventional electronics, like decreased power consumption for logic operations (changing the spin of a particle) and the fact that spins are not volatile, there are still a number of challenges for the implementation of spin based processors.  Spintronics takes a twist when implemented in photonic devices, which are much faster than classical electronic devices. In photonic devices, wherein photons (ie light) interacts strongly with the host matter, the properties of light become reminiscent of fluids, also known as liquid light.

While spintronics has a number of advantages over conventional electronics, like decreased power consumption for logic operations (changing the spin of a particle) and the fact that spins are not volatile, there are still a number of challenges for the implementation of spin based processors.

Skoltech’s photonics foundry, the Hybrid Photonics Laboratories, continuously push the boundaries in the emergent field of spintronics. Dr Askitopoulos, a senior scientist and polaritonics expert, recently brought to fruition a new paradigm for the spatial separation of spin “charged” particles. The spin current separator featured in Nature Photonics highlights for its significance in spin based information and communication technologies. A next technologically important ingredient is the control of “spin currents of liquid light” using conventional electric fields. To that end, the Hybrid Photonics Labs have established a collaboration with the University of Warsaw and the Polish Military University of Technology, experts in liquid crystal technologies. The international partnership innovated with a new optoelectronic device that allows for the manipulation of spin currents of liquid light by application of small electric fields in liquid crystal filled micro-optical-filters; the results are published in the Nature journal Light: Science & Applications

More information available at: www.polaritonics.org

Links to publications:

1.Askitopoulos, A. et al. All-optical quantum fluid spin beam splitter. Phys. Rev. B 97, 235303 (2018).

2.Horiuchi, N. Spin orientation switching. Nature Photonics 12, 443 (2018).

3.Lekenta, K. et al. Tunable optical spin Hall effect in a liquid crystal microcavity. Light: Science & Applications 7, 74 (2018).

 

 

 

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