| Spin Doctor: Ben Ruck from the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology combines kickboxing and science in this video. When he's not working out at the gym, he's studying the properties of rare earth nitrides. They are derived from the 14 rare earth elements that all have potentially strong magnetic behaviour. Ben produces the nitrides in his lab at Victoria University of Wellington by mixing the rare earth metals with nitrogen in an ultra-high vaccuum system. The result is a thin layer of material that is less than one-millionth of a metre thick.
Another way Ben studies nitrides is to examine how they interact with light using an ellipsometer. The ellipsometer shines light on a small nitride sample. The different ways the light energy interacts with the nitrides provides information about the electrons within them. This information is valuable for the emerging field of spintronics. Ben explains that if scientists can control the natural 'spin' of electrons, they will be able to add extra function to electronic devices, including computers. Duration 06.46 |
