A research team led by physicists from the University of California, Riverside, has detected a new state of magnetization (Researchers design an adjustable conductive edge) in a single layer of a new quantum material, tungsten ditelluride (WTe2). Called a magnetized or ferromagnetic quantum spin Hall insulator, this atom-thick material has an insulating interior but conductive edges and is important for controlling the flow of electrons in nanodevices.
In a normal conductor, current flows uniformly throughout. Insulators, on the other hand, do not conduct electricity easily. The layers of WTe2 are usually special insulators with conductive edges. Magnetizing (Researchers design an adjustable conductive edge) gives it more unusual properties.
Jing Xi, Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCR, said: teeth. Who led the research; “The marginal electron flow is unidirectional and can be reversed with an external magnetic field.”
Shi explained that electronics using these materials can be reduced because the size inside the material doesn’t matter if only the edges conduct electricity. It is actually as small as a conductor wire. Devices using this material use less energy and consume less energy, making them more energy efficient. For example, batteries using this technology will last longer.
The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Communications.
Currently, this technology works only at very low temperatures. CGT is ferromagnetic at about 60K (or -350F). A goal for future research is to run the technology at higher temperatures to enable many nanoelectronic applications such as non-volatile memory chips used in computers and mobile phones.
The conducting edge of perfect quantum Hall insulators, Shi says, consists of two narrow channels running side by side, resembling a two-lane highway with cars traveling in opposite directions. The electrons flowing in one channel cannot cross into the other channel unless impurities are introduced, Shi said. The conducting wire in the WTe2 monolayer was first observed in a previous study by colleague Yongtao Cui, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at UCR, and Shi’s colleague.
“It’s two channels per page,” Shea said. “By removing a channel, the current can only flow in one direction, leaving a special quantum material called quantum anomaly hall insulators. These insulators have only one highway lane to use Analogy. This insulator transfers electrons with perfect spin polarization.
On the other hand, the magnetic WTe2 experimented by Shi et al. is a so-called ferromagnetic quantum spin Hall insulator with a partially spin-polarized electron conduction edge.
“In his two channels in a ferromagnetic quantum spin Hall separator, unequal numbers of electrons flow in opposite directions, resulting in a net current that can be controlled with an external magnet,” said Shi.
According to Shi, quantum materials such as WTe2 are the future of nanoelectronics.
“The CHIPS Act will encourage researchers to develop new materials with properties that exceed those of existing silicon materials,” he said.
