2D-TopSpIn - Spin detection and control in van der Waals materials for the design of spintronic devices.
The experimental confirmation of 2D topological insulators (2D-TI) with unique conductivity properties in 2007 has potential for advanced quantum computers and spintronic devices. Topological insulators conduct at the edge, offering scattering-free, spin-polarized channels crucial for dissipationless electronics. Challenges persist in practical device creation due to technical complexities. Discovery of 2D-TI phases in TMD materials like 1T-WTe2 enables van der Waals heterostructures, promising high-performance electronics and quantum computing applications. This proposal aims to engineer a spintronic device through rationalized heterostructure design, local and mesoscopic property characterization, and multiscale imaging and transport studies.
The experimental confirmation of 2D topological insulators (2D-TI) materials that possess the peculiar property of being insulators on the inside but conductors on the edge in 2007, opened a path towards realizing practical quantum computers as well as spintronic devices that are far more powerful than todays computers. The singular applicability of topological insulators to spintronic devices is based on the fact that the conduction occurs exclusively at the edge of the material in quantum channels that are expected to be scattering-free and spin-polarized. Those two properties are key for the development of dissipationless electronic devices based on the detection and manipulation of spin properties.
However, making practical devices out of those materials is still a largely unsolved challenge. The experimental realization of these proposals have been however slowed down by technical difficulties (complex growth and device fabrication processes), resulting in a lack of available materials with sufficient quality and suitable for simple device testing.The recent discovery of 2D-TI phases on TMD materials such as 1T-WTe2 opens up the use of van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures as a powerful tool to fabricate new hybrid layered systems that could lead to high-performance electronics and applications in quantum computing.
The ultimate goal of this proposal is to engineer and fabricate a 2D material-based spintronic device (spin transistor). The design and fabrication of the heterostructures will be rationalized by following a two-step strategy: development of protocols for synthesis of high quality pure and hybrid heterostructures; and thorough characterization of their local and mesoscopic properties with a clear emphasis in their spin-properties.
Improving and ultimately controlling the performance of hierarchically structured materials requires a detailed physical picture of their behavior and response at the microscopic level, a knowledge still sorely lacking. In this project we aim to fill this gap by first, directly accessing the local morphology and electronic structure of the 2D-TI layers; and second, by combining those results from state-of-art sub- nm scanned probe imaging with mesoscopic electronic transport characterization of devices in heterostructures. This multiscale approach will generate the necessary knowledge to detect and control the electronic and spin properties of the fabricated device-oriented heterostructures.
The wide expertise of the applicants in the field of 2D material synthesis, local probe, device fabrication and magnetotransport characterization techniques ensures a successful outcome of this goal.
In summary, the expected advances herein will impact both basic research and technology in areas such as high-performance electronics and quantum computing. Timeliness and relevance of the project at Societal level stems from the fact that this project seeks new solutions to the foreseen limitations of todays conventional technologies, theme strongly supported by strategic national calls and EU Horizon 2020 plan.
This project is funded by MAT2017-88377-C2-2-R/MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033/ y por FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa
