“Spin battery” provides novel electrical storage

Researchers at the University of Miami and at the Universities of Tokyo and Tohoku, Japan, have developed what they call a “spin battery” which is “charged” by applying a large magnetic field to nano-magnets in a device called a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). In the future, the new battery could power cars and computers, say the researchers.

University of Miami physicist, Stewart E. Barnes, explained to Nature how the device can store energy in magnets rather than through chemical reactions. Like winding up a toy car, the spin battery is “wound up” by applying a large magnetic field. “We had anticipated the effect, but the device produced a voltage over a hundred times too big and for tens of minutes, rather than for milliseconds as we had expected,” Barnes said. “That this was counterintuitive is what lead to our theoretical understanding of what was really going on.”

The secret behind the technology is the use of nano-magnets to induce an electromotive force. The spin battery converts the magnetic energy directly into electrical energy, without a chemical reaction. The electrical current made in this process is called a spin polarized current.

The new discovery advances our understanding of the way magnets work and its immediate application is to use the MTJs as electronic elements which work in different ways to conventional transistors. Although the actual device has a diameter about that of a human hair and cannot even light up an LED, the energy that might be stored in this way could potentially run a car for miles. The possibilities are endless, Barnes said.

“There are magnets hidden away in many things, for example there are several in a mobile telephone, many in a car, and they are what keeps your refrigerator closed,” he said. “There are so many that even a small change in the way we understand of how they work, and which might lead to only a very small improvement in future machines, has a significant financial and energetic impact.”

Related:
Wireless Power Transfer Revisited
Getting A Handle On Spintronics
Magnetic Appeal Of Nano-Diamonds

Source: University of Miami

, ,

Comments are closed.

RPPC Photo Postcard Indian Motorcycle Gang Store Electric Furniture Shop c1910's picture

RPPC Photo Postcard Indian Motorcycle Gang Store Electric Furniture Shop c1910's

$179.95



50 + Boxes NEW OLD STOCK NOS Hardware Store Buss Fuses & Adapters Electrical picture

50 + Boxes NEW OLD STOCK NOS Hardware Store Buss Fuses & Adapters Electrical

$142.50



VTG Ladies Electric Watch Lighted Store Display Case from estate of Mike Ness/SD picture

VTG Ladies Electric Watch Lighted Store Display Case from estate of Mike Ness/SD

$325.00



Dept 56 North Pole Series Static Electricity Expert #6003124 Old Store Stock picture

Dept 56 North Pole Series Static Electricity Expert #6003124 Old Store Stock

$40.50



NAPA Echlin Electrical Connector Asst. ECA1000 Plastic Container Storage Box picture

NAPA Echlin Electrical Connector Asst. ECA1000 Plastic Container Storage Box

$24.00



Magazine Ad - 1912 - Electrical Storage Battery Co., Philadelphia, PA picture

Magazine Ad - 1912 - Electrical Storage Battery Co., Philadelphia, PA

$10.00



LOOK VTG ELECTRIC STORAGE BATTERY CO, Exide, Radio Power Unit Metal Case, NICE picture

LOOK VTG ELECTRIC STORAGE BATTERY CO, Exide, Radio Power Unit Metal Case, NICE

$60.00



US Air Force Electrical and Electronics Storage Boxes NSN:6625-01-116-4936 picture

US Air Force Electrical and Electronics Storage Boxes NSN:6625-01-116-4936

$250.00



WESTERN ELECTRIC METAL STORAGE SHIPPING CRATE CHICAGO==AWESOME picture

WESTERN ELECTRIC METAL STORAGE SHIPPING CRATE CHICAGO==AWESOME

$149.00



Babolat 36 inch Indoor Electric Light Sign. Blue. Tennis. Store Sign. RARE picture

Babolat 36 inch Indoor Electric Light Sign. Blue. Tennis. Store Sign. RARE

$299.99



Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes