Spin capacitor cuts heats and power

The advance by scientists at Leeds University generates and holds the spin state of electrons for a number of hours compared to previous efforts that held the spin state for a fraction of a second. Their results are published in Science Advances.

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A conventional capacitor holds energy in the form of electric charge and the development from Leeds does this also whilst storing the spin state of a group of electrons. According to the university, this could lead to a storage device measuring one square inch that could store 100 Terabytes of data.

In a statement, research supervisor Dr Oscar Cespedes, Associate Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, said: "This is a small but significant breakthrough in what could become a revolution in electronics driven by exploitation of the principles of quantum technology.

"At the moment, up to 70 per cent of the energy used in an electronic device such as a computer or mobile phone is lost as heat, and that is the energy that comes from electrons moving through the device's circuitry. It results in huge inefficiencies and limits the capabilities and sustainability of current technologies. The carbon footprint of the internet is already similar to that of air travel and increases year on year.