Prof. Stephan Roche Overviewed 15 Years of Spintronics Research Based on 2D Materials

by Chema Arcos

During a recent talk at SUSTech University (Shenzhen, China), the ICN2 Group Leader highlighted key breakthroughs, challenges and opportunities in using these materials to develop innovative spintronic technologies.

In 2007, it was discovered that graphene—a 2D material composed of carbon atoms, first isolated just three years earlier—could carry spin information over unprecedented distances at room temperature. These extraordinary properties immediately positioned graphene and other 2D materials as excellent candidates for spintronics research, to develop novel spintronic technologies such as non-volatile memories or spin logics. During the ten-year duration of the Graphene Flagship, ICN2 has been leading theoretical and experimental research in this field. The achievements and roadmap of this European initiative have recently been reviewed in a Nature publication, co-authored by key industrial players and coordinated by ICREA Prof. Sergio Valenzuela, head of the ICN2 Physics and Engineering of Nanodevices Group and ICREA Prof. Stephan Roche, leader of the ICN2 Theoretical and Computational Nanoscience Group.

In the lecture that ICREA Prof. Stephan Roche gave at SUSTech University (Shenzhen, China) he put into perspective more than 15 years of research in this field and what are the next steps to achieve breakthrough discoveries and technological impact. He insisted on the urgency to massively deploy artificial intelligence techniques to accelerate the search for optimized materials combinations achieving the upper limit of device performances.

What is spin or spintronics?

Spin is an intrinsic property of subatomic particles (such as protons, electrons or neutrons) and is often described as a 'kind of rotation' that these particles perform. However, this description is only metaphorical, as particles do not rotate in the classical sense. Spin is a purely quantum property and can be treated as a fundamental property, like charge or mass.

Subatomic particles can exist in one of two spin states: up or down. These states can be used analogously to the binary 0 and 1 used in computing. In other words, whereas conventional electronics rely on the presence or absence of electric current to store and transmit information, spintronics achieves this by manipulating spin states.

Major challenges ahead

Recent years have seen major advances in the study of 2D materials and their spin-related properties. The wide variety of such materials opens many doors and potential applications. However, there are still challenges to overcome to make these technologies widely accessible. For example, the large-scale production of high-quality 2D materials remains complex. There is also a need to further identify the best combinations of materials to optimise manufacturing processes, increase efficiency and reduce costs.

But the future looks very promising. Many applications of these materials are being explored: more durable memories, devices that combine magnetic and optical properties, faster and more energy-efficient devices, etc. To achieve this, it will be essential to combine experiments with the development of advanced theoretical models, supported by new tools such as artificial intelligence.

The full lecture is available here: https://www.koushare.com/live/details/38427.