LPS Seminar

Date
Wed, Sep 20, 2017 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location
LPS Downstairs Conference Room

Description

Prof. Ian Applebaum

Title: Spin Physics in the Elemental Semiconductors Si, Ge, P, and Te

Abstract: Although two-valued spin is a remarkable quantum property of all electrons, it typically plays no obvious role in the near-equilibrium charge transport physics within nonmagnetic materials. I will discuss some results from our experimental work with the technologically-dominant group-IV elemental semiconductors silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge), where the effects of an externally-injected non-equilibrium imbalance, or spin polarization, are made dominant by an unusual device configuration. Building upon the understanding of spin-orbit interaction and spin relaxation gained from this experimental endeavor with three-dimensional semiconductors, I will show how the electronic structure of the valence band in two-dimensional group-V phosphorene (P) can be exploited to minimize the most important spin-flip pathway. In recent work, we focus on our new discovery of an intrinsic 2D band on pristine surfaces of group-VI tellurium (Te), and the consequences of inversion symmetry-breaking in the bulk for spin transport phenomena.