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Updated: Sep 19, 2025
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Electric-field Control of Electronic States in WS2 Nanodevices by Electrolyte Gating
Published on: April 12, 2018
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Electric-Field-Tunable Spin-Orbit Gap in a Bilayer Graphene/WSe2 Quantum Dot
H Dulisch1,2, D Emmerich1,2, E Icking1,2
1JARA-FIT and 2nd Institute of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Nano Letters
|June 19, 2025
Summary
We investigated proximity-induced spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in bilayer graphene (BLG) and tungsten diselenide (WSe2) heterostructures. Enhanced SOC was observed and found to be electrostatically tunable, crucial for spintronics and quantum computing.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
- Quantum Information Science
Background:
- Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is crucial for spintronics and quantum computing.
- Bilayer graphene (BLG) offers a tunable platform for exploring SOC.
- Heterostructures with transition metal dichalcogenides like WSe2 can induce novel electronic properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate proximity-induced spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in BLG/WSe2 heterostructures.
- To understand the influence of WSe2 on the electronic properties of BLG.
- To demonstrate the electrostatic tunability of SOC in these systems for spintronic applications.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of BLG/WSe2 heterostructures.
- Utilized few-particle quantum dots (QDs) in BLG as sensitive probes.
- Performed finite bias and magnetotransport spectroscopy measurements.
Main Results:
- Observed significantly enhanced SOC in BLG/WSe2 heterostructures compared to pristine BLG.
- Found that induced SOC decreases with increasing displacement field.
- Demonstrated reduced valley g factor at larger displacement fields, indicating weaker lateral confinement.
Conclusions:
- WSe2 effectively induces SOC across BLG layers.
- The spin-orbit gap in BLG/WSe2 heterostructures is electrostatically tunable.
- These findings are highly relevant for advancing spintronics and developing spin qubits in BLG QDs.
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