文档介绍：Preface to Volume 17
The Handbook series ic Materials is a continuation of the Handbook series
ic Materials. When Peter Wohlfarth started the latter series, his orig-
inal aim was bine new developments in ism with the achievements
of pilations of monographs, producing a worthy essor to Bozorth’s
classical and monumental book ism. This is the main reason that Ferro-
ic Materials was initially chosen as title for the Handbook series, although the
latter aimed at giving a plete cross-section of ism than Bozorth’s
book.
In the last few decades ism has seen an enormous expansion into a va-
riety of different areas of research, comprising the ism of several classes of
novel materials that share with truly ic materials only the presence of
ic moments. For this reason the Editor and Publisher of this Handbook se-
ries have carefully reconsidered the title of the Handbook series and changed it
into ic Materials. It is with much pleasure that I can introduce to you now
Volume 17 of this Handbook series.
ic tunnel junctions form part of the exciting field of spintronics. In
this field, nanostructured ic materials are employed for functional devices
where both the charge and the spin are explicitly exploited in electron transport.
ic junctions offer a number of unique opportunities for investigating novel
effects in physics and have led to several new research directions in spintronics.
Equally important is the fact that ic junctions represent excellent materials
for exploring novel and superior types of devices. The physics of spin-dependent
tunneling in ic tunnel junctions is reviewed in Chapter 1, concentrating on
ic layers separated by an ultrathin insulating barrier. The tunneling cur-
rent between the ic electrodes in these junctions depends strongly on
an external ic field and as such lends itself to novel applications in the fields
of ic media and data storage. Followed by a short introduction on the back-
ground and the elementary principles o