Collaborative Research: FuSe: Spin Gapless Semiconductors and Effective Spin Injection Design for Spin-Orbit Logic

非技术描述：基于通过纳米级半导体设备移动电子的电子学已经改变了现代生活。自旋电子学将电子与自旋结合在一起，自旋是基本粒子的固有属性，使更小的设备有可能以更高的速度运行，消耗更少的能源。自旋电子学因此可以在数据处理、通信和存储方面给电子学带来革命性的变化。该项目涵盖了新材料的设计和合成，以及先进自旋电子器件的制造和表征。该团队将合成定制设计的半导体合金，以便在自旋电子逻辑电路中更有效地读取数据。通过对自旋电子材料的结构和材料性质的表征，将对自旋电子材料的结构-性能关系有一个基本的了解。总而言之，该项目的成果预计将是关于如何制造高效自旋电子器件的信息。该团队的劳动力发展计划的中心主题是技术沟通。该方法旨在培养和发展教师、学生和未来的劳动力，使其成为半导体行业的领导者。来自五个机构的本科生和研究生将接受培训，以更好地交流和识别可转让的技能，使自己能够在半导体行业雇主面前销售。该培训将作为推出具有行业认可的综合证书的技术通信微证书的蓝图，该项目将支持75名学生获得该证书。外展活动将针对本科生和K-12受众，以提高对半导体行业工作的认识。劳动力发展活动和行业伙伴关系将加强这些活动。技术描述：自旋无隙半导体(SGS)是一种新型的自旋电子材料，它的电子能带结构对一个自旋的电子具有有限的带隙，而对另一个自旋的电子的带隙为零，这对自旋电子的应用是有利的。目前的SGS化合物经常显示原子缺陷和无序，这是材料自旋极化和注入能力的关键元素。为了利用SGS作为高效自旋注入器的独特优势，这对于磁电自旋轨道(MESO)逻辑等自旋逻辑器件来说是不可或缺的，该团队正在使用Mn2CoAl作为平台来开发一种策略，通过了解和操纵成分、加工和界面的影响来稳定近SGS的行为。这是一个材料-工艺-设备协同设计项目。在材料层面，该团队正在确定化学成分、物相、原子有序以及由此产生的电和磁传输特性之间的关系。在薄膜合成方面，该团队正在使用溅射束外延进行低能量、外延质量的薄膜生长。从基础材料研究中学到的经验将被用来通过成分和工艺控制来避免有害的缺陷。在器件层面，该团队正在纳米级将薄的SGS层纳米化成局部自旋注入结，用于介观器件的自旋-电荷读出侧。总体而言，这项研究不仅将制定一项将SGS材料用于自旋电子器件的战略，还将深化目前对材料组成、工艺和界面如何共同影响自旋注入器性能的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-technical Description:Modern life has been transformed by electronics based on moving electrons through nanoscale semiconductor devices. Spintronics combine electronics with spin, an intrinsic property of elementary particles, making possible even smaller devices that operate at higher speeds and consume less energy. Spintronics could thus revolutionize electronics for data processing, communication, and storage. This project spans design and synthesis of novel materials to fabrication and characterization of advanced spintronic devices. The team will synthesize custom-designed semiconducting alloys to read data more efficiently in a spintronic logic circuit. A fundamental understanding of the structural-performance relationship for spintronic materials will be gained through characterization of structure and materials properties. Collectively, the outcome of this project is expected to be information on how to manufacture a highly efficient spintronic device. The team’s workforce development plan has a central theme of technology communication. The approach seeks to educate and develop faculty, students, and the future workforce to be leaders in the semiconductor industry. Undergraduate and graduate students from five institutions will be trained to better communicate and identify transferable skills to make themselves marketable to semiconductor industry employers. This training will serve as a blueprint for the launch of a micro-credential in technology communication with integrated Industry-Recognized Credentials, and this project will support 75 students to receive this credential. Outreach events will target both undergraduate and K-12 audiences to raise awareness of jobs in the semiconductor industry. These activities will be reinforced by workforce development activities and industry partnerships. Technical Description:Spin gapless semiconductors (SGS) are a new class of spintronic materials that have a finite bandgap in their electronic band structure for electrons with one spin and a zero bandgap for electrons with the other spin, which is advantageous for spintronic applications. Current SGS compounds often display atomic defects and disordering, crucial elements for the material's spin polarization and injection capabilities. In order to harness the unique advantage of SGS as efficient spin injectors, which is indispensable for spin logic devices such as the magneto-electric spin-orbit (MESO) logic, the team is using Mn2CoAl as a platform to develop a strategy that stabilizes the near-SGS behavior through understanding and manipulation of influences from composition, processing, and interfaces. This is a collaborative material-process-device co-design project. At the materials level, the team is determining the relationship between chemical composition, phases, atomic ordering, and resultant electric and magnetic transport properties. On the thin film synthesis level, the team is performing low-energetic, epitaxial-quality film growth with sputter beam epitaxy. Lessons learned from the fundamental materials research will be used to avoid deleterious defects via composition and processing control. At the device level, the team is nanopatterning thin SGS layers into local spin injection junctions for the spin-to-charge readout side of the MESO device. Overall, this research will not only develop a strategy to use SGS materials for spintronic devices but also deepen current understanding on how materials composition, processing, and interfaces collectively impact the performance of a spin injector.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.