Green Pigment Spins Chip Promise

BBC News, 9 Aug 2006 An unpopular pigment used by artists in the 18th Century could lead to more energy efficient, faster computers. Cobalt green, as it is known, has been tested by a U.S. team who believe it could be used in "spintronic" devices. Spintronics involves manipulating the magnetic properties of electrons to do useful computational work. Cobalt green may be useful for building working devices as it can be used at room temperature, unlike many other materials which must be supercooled. "The big challenge is to develop materials that can perform these kinds of functions not just at cryogenic temperatures but at practical temperatures," said Professor Daniel Gamelin of the University of Washington, one of the team that carried out the work. Read more