Chiral Strain Engineering of Polar Semiconductors

非技术性解释手征是一个描述物体（如晶体，分子或电子自旋和动量之间的关系）的概念，它具有与其镜像不同的配置，在驱动材料物理学中的许多基本现象方面起着关键作用。结晶手性固体表现出独特的自旋-动量关系和强大的手性诱导自旋选择性，使它们非常有希望在室温下进行节能的自旋电子计算。所提出的手征弹性应变工程方法提供了一个框架，有利于探索和发现新的手征材料和相。这种方法不仅可以丰富手征电子性质及其与应变的关系的基本理解，而且有可能加速手征材料在未来自旋电子学和计算技术中的应用。该奖项还旨在促进科学和工程教育和研究培训之间的各种学生，包括那些从历史上代表性不足的群体在该领域，对主题的手性电子材料。该奖项获得的成果将有助于未来微电子学的发展，使美国的整体社会进步受益。技术支持在拓扑绝缘体、Weyl半金属和Rashba/Dresselhaus晶体/系统的表面态中观察到的手征自旋轨道耦合，在集成量子光子学和电子学的新兴光子和自旋电子器件的设计中起着至关重要的作用。具有Kramers-Weyl手性自旋轨道耦合的手性晶体可以是金属或绝缘体，与拓扑绝缘体或Weyl半金属相比，为拓扑非平凡行为提供了更大的能量窗口。此外，已经在手性材料中发现了稳健的室温手性诱导的自旋选择性。然而，晶体手性半导体的可用性是有限的，这显著阻碍了选择合适的模型系统来研究Kramers-Weyl物理、手性电子输运性质以及基于手性材料的自旋电子器件的开发。在这个项目中，主要研究者提出利用弹性应变将非手性半导体转化为具有拓扑手性电子结构的手性相。目的是揭示手征性质和应变场之间的基本关系。电场的作用，在切换手性手性也将被调查。该项目将推进对手性电子结构、电子输运、光学和光电性质的基本理解，并将扩大有关手性自旋电子性质和未来计算设备的材料数据库。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nontechnical descriptionChirality, a concept that describes objects (such as crystals, molecules, or the relationship between electron spin and momentum) that possess a distinct configuration from their mirror image, plays a pivotal role in driving many fundamental phenomena in materials physics. Crystalline chiral solids exhibit a unique spin-momentum relation and robust chiral-induced spin selectivity, making them highly promising for energy-efficient spintronic computing at room temperature. The proposed approach of chiral elastic strain engineering offers a framework that facilitates the exploration and discovery of new chiral materials and phases. This approach not only enables the enriching of basic understanding of chiral electronic properties and their relations with strain, but also has the potential to accelerate the implementation of chiral materials in future spintronics and computing technologies. This award also aims to promote science and engineering education and research training among a diverse range of students, including those from historically underrepresented groups in the field, on the topic of chiral electronic materials. The results gained from this award will contribute to the advancement of future microelectronics, benefiting the overall societal progress of the United States.Technical descriptionChiral spin-orbit coupling, observed in the surface states of topological insulators, Weyl semimetals, and Rashba/Dresselhaus crystals/systems, plays a crucial role in the design of emerging photonic and spintronic devices for integrated quantum photonics and electronics. Chiral crystals, featuring Kramers-Weyl chiral spin-orbit coupling, can be either metals or insulators, providing a larger energy window for topologically non-trivial behavior compared to topological insulators or Weyl semimetals. Moreover, robust room temperature chiral-induced spin selectivity has been discovered in chiral materials. However, the availability of crystalline chiral semiconductors is limited, which significantly hinders the selection of suitable model systems for studying Kramers-Weyl physics, chiral electronic transport properties, and the development of spintronic devices based on chiral materials. In this project, the principal investigator proposes to utilize elastic strain to transform non-chiral semiconductors into chiral phases that possess topological chiral electronic structures. The goal is to uncover the fundamental relationship between chiral properties and strain fields. The role of electric fields in switching chiral handedness will also be investigated. This project will advance the fundamental understanding of chiral electronic structures, electronic transport, optical and optoelectronic properties, and will expand the materials database concerning chiral spintronic properties and devices for future computing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.