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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
11:33
All-electronic Nanosecond-resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Facilitating the Investigation of Single Dopant Charge Dynamics
Published on: January 19, 2018
Space-Charge-Limited van der Waals Spin Transistor
Thomas K M Graham1, Yu-Xuan Wang1, Niranjana Renjith Nair2
1Boston College, Department of Physics, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|August 10, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed a novel spin transistor using a 2D antiferromagnetic semiconductor (CrSBr) that combines electrical and magnetic properties for advanced computing architectures, enabling nonvolatile logic-in-memory applications.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
- Spintronics
Background:
- Integrating semiconductor and magnetic materials offers potential for nonvolatile logic-in-memory architectures.
- Existing spin transistor concepts often rely on vertical tunneling, limiting device functionality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate a novel spin transistor concept utilizing both vertical and lateral transport in a 2D antiferromagnetic semiconductor.
- To investigate the mechanism behind giant, gate-tunable magnetoresistance in a CrSBr monolayer-bilayer junction.
- To explore field-trainable, multilevel memristive conductance states.
Main Methods:
- Correlated electrical transport measurements.
- Scanning nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center magnetic imaging.
- Device fabrication using a monolayer-bilayer junction in CrSBr.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated a spin transistor concept distinct from vertical tunneling devices, combining vertical and lateral hopping transport.
- Observed giant, gate-tunable magnetoresistance due to electrostatic doping and interlayer exchange coupling.
- Visualized a field-trainable layer-sharing effect enabling multilevel, memristive conductance states.
Conclusions:
- A layer-dependent space charge mechanism enables convergent electrical and magnetic control in 2D antiferromagnetic semiconductors.
- This approach addresses limitations in contemporary computing by enabling novel device functionalities.
- Opens opportunities for advanced computing architectures like logic-in-memory.
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