The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) announced on the 6th that they have selected Professor Jeong Myeong-hwa of the Department of Physics at Sogang University as the recipient of the Science and Technology Award for August.
The 'Science and Technology Award of the Month' is an award presented monthly to one researcher who has made outstanding research and development achievements contributing to the advancement of science and technology over the past three years, along with a certificate from the Minister and a prize of 10 million won, funded by the Science and Technology Promotion Fund and the Lottery Fund of the Ministry of Science and ICT.
To commemorate the 'Year of Quantum Science and Technology' in 2025, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation have selected Professor Jeong Myeong-hwa, who experimentally demonstrated the 'quantum mechanical spin pumping phenomenon' for the first time in the world, as the awardee. Professor Jeong's research is evaluated as a key achievement that expands the practical potential of spintronics technology and promotes a paradigm shift in next-generation quantum devices and spin-based semiconductor technologies.
Electronic devices used in daily life, such as smartphones, operate through the movement of electrons. However, when electrons move, they collide with the atoms inside the material, generating heat, which increases energy consumption and reduces device efficiency.
To address this issue, recent studies have actively explored 'spin current,' which transfers spin energy generated by electron rotation from ferromagnetic to non-magnetic materials without the movement of electrons, and the method of 'spin pumping' that generates spin current. However, traditional classical mechanical spin pumping generates current based on precessional motion, similar to a rotating top, which has limitations such as energy inefficiency due to losses in the processes of controlling, transferring, and converting spin flows.
To overcome the limitations of classical mechanical spin pumping, Professor Jeong Myeong-hwa proposed a new spin generation method that precisely utilizes the quantum mechanical properties of spin. In other words, she focused on the 'quantum mechanical spin pumping phenomenon' whereby a spin current is generated when the 'size' of the spin changes while the spin direction is fixed, predicting that the spin current generated through this method would be significantly larger than that based on precessional motion.
To experimentally verify this, she successfully fabricated a special magnetic thin film called 'iron (Fe)-rhodium (Rh)' and generated a spin current more than ten times larger than conventional methods. By implementing phenomena typically observed in a cryogenic environment at room temperature, she demonstrated the potential to create efficient spin currents at room temperature as well. These research results were published in the international journal 'Nature' last January.
Professor Jeong Myeong-hwa said, "This achievement is significant in that it not only advances spintronics technology but also lays the foundation for the development of low-power devices with high energy efficiency, thereby expanding the potential for utilizing next-generation quantum device technology." She noted, "Understanding magnetic phenomena and the quantum characteristics of spins may not lead directly to product development immediately, but the accumulation of such fundamental knowledge can become the seeds for unforeseen new technologies and ultimately lead to discoveries that could dramatically change humanity's way of life."