"Spintronics" is an emerging field that deals with the use of the 'spin' of an electron for storing, processing and communicating information and it has known an important recent advance that may one day manifest itself in a new generation of smaller, smarter and faster computers, sensors and other devices.

Now, a team of scientists at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City discovered a new way of measuring spin states, with increased sensitivity. That wouldn't be much of a news, but the fact is they successfully applied this new technique to an organic semiconductor, at room temperature.

"This is really the first demonstration that we know of that shows coherent electrical spin measurements at room temperature, and in an organic semiconductor," says Boehme. "It's important to note that we see coherent spin states, which means we can not only observe spins, we also see their quantum state."

Organic semiconductors have an electrical conductivity between that of typical metals and that of insulating compounds, plus they are made of organic materials. An example is the polyacetylene. As with inorganic amorphous semiconductors, tunneling, localized states, mobility gaps and phonon-assisted hopping also contribute to conduction, particularly in polyacetylenes.

The new measuring technique is a real breakthrough in the field, which will give scientists a new look into a process that could lead to further advances in a variety of technological applications. "Instead of detecting a very weak electromagnetic signal," Boehme explains, "you detect an electric current that depends on the state of the spin. One electron influences how another moves. This is called spin-dependent transition, and this is what we detect."

"Semiconductors are quite important, and organic semiconductors offer uses in the future. Organic light emitting diodes and solar cells are examples for applications," concluded Boehme. "These devices will contribute to energy conservation, so their energy efficiency is very important in both. If we can determine what the energy efficiency limiting processes are, and how they work, we can make new organic light emitting diodes and solar cells more efficient. This could be of great importance."