Special Topic on Spin–Orbit Coupling Effects for Advanced Logic and Memory

The first effect resulting from spin–orbit coupling (SOC), the spin Hall effect (SHE), was discovered by Dyakonov and Perel nearly 50 years ago. However, it belonged largely to the realm of fundamental physics rather than technology. Only ten years ago, I asked a university professor presenting on SHE experiments a question about possible device applications. The answer was that it is up to industrial technologists to figure out. The breakthrough came in 2011 from the Barcelona–Grenoble collaboration and from the Cornell University group as the magnetization was switched via the spin–orbit torque (SOT). In the following years, the explosive growth of both theoretical research and experimental research followed.