This course focuses on magnetic phenomena that occur in ultra thin films, heterostructures, and nanomagnets, with emphasis on effects not encountered in bulk materials and on spintronics. The course will provide an introduction to magnetic textures, magnetotransport, charge-spin conversion, spin torques and their application to detect and manipulate the magnetization of spintronic devices.

This course tackles the fundamental question of why only a few materials exhibit magnetism in Nature. The origin of atomic magnetic moments and the key mechanisms that govern their interactions are justified starting from fundamental principles. In addition, the influence of thermal fluctuations on magnetic ordering is discussed as well as the formalism to describe magnetic resonance phenomena.