As the semiconductor's technology shrinks down in size quantum nano-structures are likely to become primary components of future electronic devices. One such revolution would be the merge of spintronics with standard Si-based technologies. Spintronics, or spin electronics, refers to the role played by electron spin in solid state physics, and to devices that specifically exploit spin properties instead of charge degrees of freedom. This yields a decrease in the device power consumption, an increase in the devices effective speed and allows higher densities. Using spintronics for achieving a universal memory device that has high density, high speed, and low power requirements, in a simple process, is a major goal in industry.

In recent years, a new phenomenon, called the Chiral Induced Spin-selectivity (CISS) effect has become the basis of spin control and manipulation. In these studies an organic chiral self-assembly monolayer (SAM) act as an efficient spin filter. We utilize this effect to achieve a proof of concept for a new type of chiral-based magnetic Si-compatible universal memory device without a permanent magnet. We also show that local magnetization can be achieved optically. The fabrication process is simple and compatible with integrated circuits technology and therefore may establish a major technological breakthrough in silicon based spintronics.