Physics Colloquim,Roland Kawakami, Ohio State University

Abstract:

The spin and valley degrees of electrons in 2D materials provides new opportunities of information storage, non-volatile logic, and optoelectronics. Among all materials, graphene exhibits the best properties for spin transport, exhibiting spin lifetime in excess of 10 ns and spin diffusion lengths exceeding 20 microns at room temperature. Combining graphene with other 2D materials in vertical heterostructures presents great opportunities for developing new functionalities for spintronics.

In this talk, I will present three important efforts in developing spintronics and valleytronics in 2D materials and heterostructures. First is the advancement of graphene spintronics for higher performance with larger spin currents and spin accumulation via materials engineering. Second is the integration of graphene with transition metal dichalcogenides, which enables optospintronics and electrical modulation of spin transport. Third is the advent of monolayer magnets, grown by molecular beam epitaxy, that exhibit ferromagnetism up to room temperature. We will discuss the new possibilities associated with vertical heterostructures of these 2D materials.