ABSTRACT
As emphasized in the previous chapter, the central challenge in most spintronic devices (SPINFETs, sensors, etc.) is to find ways to inject, manipulate, and detect the spin of an electron with high efficiency while employing purely electrical means. To achieve this goal, quantum nanostructures, including quantum point contacts (QPCs) and quantum dots (QDs), have been pressed into action over the last decade [1, 2, 3]. This chapter describes some of the recent breakthroughs toward the realization of all electric spin-based devices with the aid of QPCs, resulting in high spin injection and detection efficiencies.
