[Key Points]
・ Discovered that spin currents occur in insulators due to a temperature gradient
・ Successful thermoelectric generation from insulators, which has seemed to be impossible
・ Expectations for wide application of thermoelectric materials from large-scale power generation to small portable thermoelectric conversion elements

[Summary]
 A research group led by Professor Eiji Saitoh at Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Ken-ichi Uchida, doctoral student, at Tohoku University and Sadamichi Maekawa, Director General, at Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) developed a new technology to generate electrical energy from insulators with temperature gradients.

 The achievement is expected to help apply insulators with less energy loss due to heat transfer to thermoelectric conversion elements, which will contribute to the expansion of design possibilities and installation sites of the elements and to the development of environment-friendly electric technologies.

 The research result was published online in Nature Materials, British scientific journal, on September 26, 2010.  The paper’s title is “Spin Seebeck insulator.”

More Information (Japanese)

[Contact] (About the research)
Eiji Saitoh, Professor
Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University
Address: 2-1-1 Katahira Aoba-ku Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8577, Japan
TEL: +81-22-215-2021
E-mail: eizi*imr.tohoku.ac.jp (Replace * with @)

Ken-ichi Uchida, doctoral student
Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University
Address: 2-1-1 Katahira Aoba-ku Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8577, Japan
TEL: +81-22-215-2023
E-mail: kuchida*imr.tohoku.ac.jp (Replace * with @)

Sadamichi Maekawa, Director General
Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)
2-4 Shirane Shirakata, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
TEL: +81-29-282-5093
E-mail: maekawa.sadamichi*jaea.go.jp (Replace * with @)

(Public Relations)
Toru Kodama, Administrative staff
Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University
Address: 2-1-1 Katahira Aoba-ku Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8577, Japan
TEL: +81-22-215-2181, FAX: +81-22-215-2184
E-mail：imr-som*imr.tohoku.ac.jp (Replace * with @)

Shinichi Suga
Public Relations Office, JAEA
Address: Shinsei Bank Bldg. 11F, 2-1-8, Uchisaiwaicho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo,
100-8577, Japan
TEL: +81-3-3592-2346, FAX: +81-3-5157-1950
E-mail：suga.shinichi*jaea.go.jp (Replace * with @)