Spintronic Devices Based on Topological Insulators

拓扑绝缘体表面态的特殊性在于电流直接诱导自旋极化，自旋极化方向与电流方向垂直锁定。这使得TI成为自旋电子学应用的一个有前途的平台。在过去的几年里，主要研究者在材料和器件开发方面为TI研究领域做出了一系列重要贡献。在这些成就的基础上，本项目的重点是自旋电子器件的制造和表征，旨在测试/演示TI的自旋电子功能。具体而言，该项目解决了以下两个目标：（I）实现自旋晶体管操作，以演示基于我们提出的新机制通过静电门控操纵自旋;（II）接近弹道自旋输运机制，以显着提高自旋产生的效率。这些目标的实现将使我们能够评估TI的自旋电子学应用的具体基础上的潜力，提供基于TI的未来技术的基础。

The surface states of topological insulators (TIs) are peculiar in that electrical currents directly induce spin polarization whose direction is perpendicularly locked to the current direction. This makes TIs a promising platform for spintronic applications. In the past few years, the Principal Investigator has made a series of important contributions to the TI research field in terms of both materials and device developments. Building on those achievements, this project focuses on fabrication and characterization of spintronic devices aimed at testing/demonstrating spintronic functions of TIs. Specifically, the project addresses the following two objectives: (I) realize the spin transistor operation to demonstrate the manipulation of spins via electrostatic gating based on the new mechanism proposed by us; (II) approach the ballistic spin transport regime to significantly enhance the efficiency of spin generation. Achievements of these objectives will enable us to evaluate the potential of TIs for spintronic applications on a concrete basis, providing foundations for future technologies based on TIs.