Creation and control of spin current in 2D materials heterostructure (Conference Presentation)

Abstract

Exploiting the spin degrees of freedom of electrons in solid state devices is considered as one of the alternative state variables for information storage and processing beyond the charge based technology. In this regard, two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals and their heterostructures provide an ideal platform for spintronics. Our findings demonstrate all-electrical spintronic device at room temperature with the creation, transport and control of the spin in 2D materials heterostructures, which can be key building blocks in future device architectures. Graphene is an excellent medium for long-distance spin communication in future spintronic technologies. We demonstrated a long distance spin transport over 16 µm and spin lifetimes up to 1.2 ns in large area CVD graphene at room temperature [1]. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is an insulating tunnel barrier that has potential for efficient spin polarized tunneling from ferromagnets. We demonstrated the spin filtering effect in few layer h-BN junctions leading to a large negative spin polarization up to 65 % in graphene at room temperature [2, 3]. Furthermore, we combined graphene and MoS2 in a van der Waals heterostructure (vdWh) to demonstrate the electric gate control of the spin-orbit interaction and spin lifetime at room temperature [4]. [1] Nature Commun. 6, 6766 (2015). [2] Scientific Reports, 4: 61446 (2014) [3] Scientific Reports, 6, 21168 (2016). [4] Nature Commun. 8, 16093 (2017).