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Published on: October 12, 2019
Two-Dimensional Giant Tunable Rashba Semiconductors with Two-Atom-Thick Buckled Honeycomb Structure
Kai Wu1, Jiajia Chen1, Huanhuan Ma1
1Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Department of Chemical Physics, and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Researchers discovered new 2D Rashba semiconductors with buckled honeycomb structures. These materials, like 2D BiSb, offer large Rashba constants and strong electric-field responses for advanced spin field-effect transistors (SFETs).
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
- Spintronics
Background:
- Spin field-effect transistors (SFETs) leverage the Rashba effect to electrically control electron spin.
- A key challenge is identifying Rashba semiconductors with large Rashba constants and robust electric-field responses to maintain spin coherence.
- Existing materials often fall short in these critical parameters for practical spintronic devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To computationally design and identify novel 2D Rashba semiconductors with superior properties for SFET applications.
- To explore the potential of two-atom-thick buckled honeycomb structures (BHS) for spintronic applications.
- To evaluate the Rashba constant and electric-field response of these novel 2D materials.
Main Methods:
- High-throughput first-principles density functional theory calculations were employed.
- Structural, electronic, and spin-related properties of proposed 2D materials were systematically investigated.
- Performance metrics relevant to SFETs, such as Rashba constant and electric-field response, were analyzed.
Main Results:
- A series of 2D Rashba semiconductors with a buckled honeycomb structure (BHS) were proposed.
- These BHS materials exhibit significantly large Rashba constants, exceeding those of conventional bulk materials.
- The 2D AlBi monolayer shows the highest Rashba constant (2.77 eVÅ) among all known 2D Rashba materials.
- The 2D BiSb monolayer demonstrates a large Rashba constant (1.94 eVÅ) and a strong electric-field response (0.92 eŲ), making it highly suitable for SFETs.
- A designed 2D-BiSb-SFET achieved a significantly shorter spin channel length (42 nm with strain) compared to conventional SFETs (2-5 μm).
Conclusions:
- Two-atom-thick buckled honeycomb structures represent a promising platform for designing high-performance 2D Rashba semiconductors.
- 2D BiSb is identified as a leading candidate for next-generation SFETs due to its excellent Rashba properties and potential for miniaturization.
- These findings pave the way for developing more efficient and compact spintronic devices by overcoming current limitations in spin manipulation and coherence preservation.
