Collaborative Research: Design and Demonstration of Persistent Spin Textures in Ferroelectric Oxide Thin Film

合作研究：铁电氧化物薄膜中持久自旋织构的设计和演示

基本信息

批准号：
2104397
负责人：
James Rondinelli
金额：
$ 33万
依托单位：
Northwestern University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2021
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2021-07-01 至 2024-06-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2104397&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Collaborative Research Design Demonstration Persistent

项目摘要

Modern electronics are based on moving electrons through nanoscale transistors made of semiconductors such as silicon. The exponential growth in computing power has been realized by shrinking the size of transistors and increasing their density. As the dimensions of transistors approach atomic scales, further miniaturization is not possible. An alternative route to computing and information processing exploits spin, an intrinsic property of elementary particles. Spintronics combines electronics with spin, allowing for devices for information processing and storage that have superior energy efficiency and reduced heat-generation. The limiting feature for the field remains transporting spins across nanoscale dimensions in magnetic materials without losing the stored information. This project exploits a relativistic quantum mechanical effect – spin-orbit interaction – along with crystalline symmetries to protect the state of the spin as it travels in non-magnetic materials. The research team will combine experimental work with simulations to realize a new class of thin film oxide materials for spintronics. Teaching and training of students at multiple levels is interwoven throughout the project. The project will broaden STEM participation by underrepresented students through public outreach events, curriculum development, and recruiting students to participate in interdisciplinary experimental research. The educational impact extends to high-school teachers, who will be recruited to participate in research and develop materials physics modules for their classrooms. These efforts will impact the next-generation workforce by endowing students with the problem solving skills needed for future careers in STEM.The desire to identify beyond Moore’s Law devices and technologies has driven increasing attention on a range of alternative computing devices, including using the spin rather than the charge of an electron. The limiting feature for the field of spin-orbit-based electronics is the difficulty in attaining both long-lived and fully controllable spins from conventional semiconductor and magnetic materials. The goal of this project is to design, discover, and demonstrate ferroelectric oxides embodying a symmetry-protected persistent spin texture, which permits information encoded in the spins to be robust to corruption as they propagate. Unique to this project is the use of atomic topology to achieve the novel spin textures in bulk materials with spin-orbit interactions, rather than by delicately balancing multiple, hard to control, interactions through conventional quantum-well structures. The project couples theory, simulation, and comprehensive experimentation with sophisticated thin film oxide growth methods to develop new theories and models for spin textures, identify and synthesize novel ferroelectric oxides exhibiting symmetry-determined spin textures, and explore electric-field tunability of the spin textures. Outcomes of the project include new descriptive and predictive theories for spin textures in complex materials, realization of novel complex transition metal oxide ferroelectrics, and demonstration of spin-based devices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

现代电子学基于通过由硅等半导体制成的纳米级晶体管移动电子，通过缩小晶体管的尺寸并增加其密度来实现计算能力的指数级增长。随着晶体管的尺寸接近原子尺度，进一步的小型化已不再可能。计算和信息处理的另一种途径是利用自旋，这是基本粒子的一种固有特性，将电子学与自旋相结合，使信息处理和存储设备具有卓越的能源效率和减少的生热场。该项目利用相对论量子力学效应（自旋轨道相互作用）以及晶体对称性来保护自旋在非磁性材料中传播时的状态。研究团队将实验工作与模拟相结合，以实现用于自旋电子学的新型薄膜氧化物材料，该项目将通过多层次的学生教学和培训来扩大 STEM 的参与。公共宣传活动、课程开发以及招募学生参与跨学科实验研究的教育影响将延伸到高中教师，他们将被招募来参与课堂材料物理模块的研究和开发，这些努力将影响下一步。 - 通过赋予学生未来 STEM 职业所需的解决问题的技能来培养劳动力。对超越摩尔定律的设备和技术的渴望促使人们越来越关注一系列替代计算设备，包括使用自旋而不是充电的计算设备电子领域的限制特征。基于自旋轨道的电子学的难点是从传统半导体和磁性材料获得长寿命和完全可控的自旋，该项目的目标是设计、发现和演示体现对称性保护的持久自旋纹理的铁电氧化物，这使得自旋中编码的信息在传播时具有鲁棒性，该项目的独特之处在于使用原子拓扑在具有自旋轨道相互作用的散装材料中实现新颖的自旋纹理。通过传统量子阱结构微妙地平衡多种难以控制的相互作用，该项目将理论、模拟和综合实验与复杂的薄膜氧化物生长方法结合起来，开发自旋纹理的新理论和模型，识别和合成新型铁电氧化物。展示对称性决定的自旋纹理，并探索自旋纹理的电场可调谐性。该项目的成果包括复杂材料中自旋纹理的新描述和预测理论，以及新型复杂过渡金属氧化物的实现。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。