Physics and Engineering of Nanodevices

Group Leader: Sergio Valenzuela

Sergio Valenzuela

ICREA Research Professor

sov@icn2.cat

Group Leader

Sergio Valenzuela obtained his PhD in Physics in 2001 at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) and held research positions at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Since July 2008 he has been an ICREA Research Professor and leader of the ICN2 Physics and Engineering of Nanodevices Group. His research is focused on the unique properties of materials with nanoscale dimensions, motivated by both their intrinsic scientific interest and their potential for advanced electronic applications. His work encompasses spintronics, quantum computation with superconducting circuits and quantum metrology. Together with his collaborators, he has pioneered the use of non- local devices to study the spin Hall effect and of thermopiles to isolate the magnon drag in ferromagnetic materials, and he has implemented novel qubit control and spectroscopy methods.  

Prof. Valenzuela was awarded the 2001 Giambiagi Prize and the 2009 IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Magnetism for his contributions to the field of spintronics, as well as an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2012. He has authored over 70 articles (Nature, Science, Reviews of Modern Physics, Nature Materials, Nature Physics, Nature Nanotechnology, Physical Review Letters, among others), four patents, and five books or book chapters

 

Publications

2024

  • Spin-Orbit Torques and Magnetization Switching in (Bi,Sb)2Te3/Fe3GeTe2 Heterostructures Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

    Guillet, Thomas; Galceran, Regina; Sierra, Juan F; Belarre, Francisco J; Ballesteros, Belen; Costache, Marius V; Dosenovic, Djordje; Okuno, Hanako; Marty, Alain; Jamet, Matthieu; Bonell, Frederic; Valenzuela, Sergio O Nano Letters; 24 (3): 822 - 828. 2024. 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c03291. IF: 9.600

  • Spintronics with two-dimensional materials and van der Waals heterostructures

    Roche, Stephan; van Wees, Bart; Garello, Kevin; Valenzuela, Sergio O 2d Materials; 11 (4): 043001. 2024. 10.1088/2053-1583/ad64e2. IF: 4.500

  • Terahertz spin-light coupling in proximitized Dirac materials

    Konstantin Denisov; I. V. Rozhansky; Sergio O. Valenzuela; Igor Žutić Physical Review. B./Physical Review. b; 109 (20) 2024. 10.1103/physrevb.109.l201406.

  • Unravelling the origin of thermal anisotropy in PdSe2

    Xu, Kai; Armesto, Luis Martinez; Svetlik, Josef; Sierra, Juan F; Marinova, Vera; Dimitrov, Dimitre; Goni, Alejandro R; Krysztofik, Adam; Graczykowski, Bartlomiej; Rurali, Riccardo; Valenzuela, Sergio O; Reparaz, Juan Sebastian 2d Materials; 11 (4): 045006. 2024. 10.1088/2053-1583/ad64e3. IF: 4.500

2023

  • Efficient terahertz harmonic generation in topological metamaterials

    Kovalev, S; Tielrooij, K; Ilyakov, I; Deinert, JC; de Oliveira, T; Ponomaryov, O; Principi, A; Reig, D; Block, A; Varghese, S; Schreyeck, S; Brunner, K; Karczewski, G; Carbonell, C; Valenzuela, S; Molenkamp, L; Kiessling, T; Astakhov, GV International Conference On Infrared, Millimeter, And Terahertz Waves, Irmmw-Thz; 2023. 10.1109/IRMMW-THz57677.2023.10298895.

  • Experimental Demonstration of a Magnetically Induced Warping Transition in a Topological Insulator Mediated by Rare-Earth Surface Dopants

    Cano, BM; Ferreiros, Y; Pantaleon, PA; Dai, J; Tallarida, M; Figueroa, AI; Marinova, V; Garcia-Diez, K; Mugarza, A; Valenzuela, SO; Miranda, R; Camarero, J; Guinea, F; Silva-Guillen, JA; Valbuena, MA Nano Letters; 23 (13): 6249 - 6258. 2023. 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c00587. IF: 10.800

  • Large-Area Synthesis of Ferromagnetic Fe5-xGeTe2/Graphene van der Waals Heterostructures with Curie Temperature above Room Temperature

    Lv, H; da Silva, A; Figueroa, AI; Guillemard, C; Aguirre, IF; Camosi, L; Aballe, L; Valvidares, M; Valenzuela, SO; Schubert, J; Schmidbauer, M; Herfort, J; Hanke, M; Trampert, A; Engel-Herbert, R; Ramsteiner, M; Lopes, JMJ Small; 19 (39) 2023. 10.1002/smll.202302387. IF: 13.300

2022

  • Heat dissipation in few-layer MoS2and MoS2/hBN heterostructure

    Arrighi A., Del Corro E., Urrios D.N., Costache M.V., Sierra J.F., Watanabe K., Taniguchi T., Garrido J.A., Valenzuela S.O., Sotomayor Torres C.M., Sledzinska M. 2D Materials; 9 (1, 015005) 2022. 10.1088/2053-1583/ac2e51. IF: 7.103

  • Milliwatt terahertz harmonic generation from topological insulator metamaterials

    Tielrooij KJ; Principi A; Reig DS; Block A; Varghese S; Schreyeck S; Brunner K; Karczewski G; Ilyakov I; Ponomaryov O; de Oliveira TVAG; Chen M; Deinert JC; Carbonell CG; Valenzuela SO; Molenkamp LW; Kiessling T; Astakhov GV; Kovalev S Light-Science & Applications; 11 (1) 2022. 10.1038/s41377-022-01008-y. IF: 20.257

  • Passivation of Bi2Te3 Topological Insulator by Transferred CVD-Graphene: Toward Intermixing-Free Interfaces

    Galceran, R; Bonell, F; Camosi, L; Sauthier, G; Gebeyehu, ZM; Esplandiu, MJ; Arrighi, A; Aguirre, IF; Figueroa, AI; Sierra, JF; Valenzuela, SO Advanced Materials Interfaces; 9 (36) 2022. 10.1002/admi.202201997. IF: 6.389

  • Resolving spin currents and spin densities generated by charge-spin interconversion in systems with reduced crystal symmetry

    Camosi L., Světl’ík J., Costache M.V., Savero Torres W., Fernández Aguirre I., Marinova V., Dimitrov D., Gospodinov M., Sierra J.F., Valenzuela S.O. 2D Materials; 9 (3, 035014) 2022. 10.1088/2053-1583/ac6fec.

  • Two-dimensional materials prospects for non-volatile spintronic memories

    Yang H., Valenzuela S.O., Chshiev M., Couet S., Dieny B., Dlubak B., Fert A., Garello K., Jamet M., Jeong D.-E., Lee K., Lee T., Martin M.-B., Kar G.S., Sénéor P., Shin H.-J., Roche S. Nature; 606 (7915): 663 - 673. 2022. 10.1038/s41586-022-04768-0.

  • Unraveling Heat Transport and Dissipation in Suspended MoSe2 from Bulk to Monolayer

    Saleta Reig D., Varghese S., Farris R., Block A., Mehew J.D., Hellman O., Woźniak P., Sledzinska M., El Sachat A., Chávez-Ángel E., Valenzuela S.O., van Hulst N.F., Ordejón P., Zanolli Z., Sotomayor Torres C.M., Verstraete M.J., Tielrooij K.-J. Advanced Materials; 34 (10, 2108352) 2022. 10.1002/adma.202108352. IF: 30.849

2021

  • A valley of opportunities

    Torres L.F., Valenzuela S.O. Physics World; 34 (11): 43 - 46. 2021. 10.1088/2058-7058/34/11/40. IF: 0.355

  • Control of spin-charge conversion in van der Waals heterostructures

    Galceran R., Tian B., Li J., Bonell F., Jamet M., Vergnaud C., Marty A., García J.H., Sierra J.F., Costache M.V., Roche S., Valenzuela S.O., Manchon A., Zhang X., Schwingenschlögl U. APL Materials; 9 (10, 100901) 2021. 10.1063/5.0054865. IF: 5.096

  • Large-area van der Waals epitaxy and magnetic characterization of Fe3GeTe2films on graphene

    Lopes J.M.J., Czubak D., Zallo E., Figueroa A.I., Guillemard C., Valvidares M., Rubio-Zuazo J., López-Sanchéz J., Valenzuela S.O., Hanke M., Ramsteiner M. 2D Materials; 8 (4, 041001) 2021. 10.1088/2053-1583/ac171d. IF: 7.103

  • Low-symmetry topological materials for large charge-to-spin interconversion: The case of transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers

    Vila M., Hsu C.-H., Garcia J.H., Benítez L.A., Waintal X., Valenzuela S.O., Pereira V.M., Roche S. Physical Review Research; 3 (4, 043230) 2021. 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.043230. IF: 0.000

  • Van der Waals heterostructures for spintronics and opto-spintronics

    Sierra J.F., Fabian J., Kawakami R.K., Roche S., Valenzuela S.O. Nature Nanotechnology; 16 (8): 856 - 868. 2021. 10.1038/s41565-021-00936-x. IF: 39.213

2020

  • Absence of Magnetic Proximity Effect at the Interface of Bi2Se3 and (Bi,Sb)2Te3 with EuS

    Figueroa A.I., Bonell F., Cuxart M.G., Valvidares M., Gargiani P., Van Der Laan G., Mugarza A., Valenzuela S.O. Physical Review Letters; 125 (22, 226801) 2020. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.226801. IF: 8.385

  • Control of Spin-Orbit Torques by Interface Engineering in Topological Insulator Heterostructures

    Bonell F., Goto M., Sauthier G., Sierra J.F., Figueroa A.I., Costache M.V., Miwa S., Suzuki Y., Valenzuela S.O. Nano Letters; 20 (8): 5893 - 5899. 2020. 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c01850. IF: 11.238

  • Ferromagnetic Resonance Assisted Optomechanical Magnetometer

    Colombano M.F., Arregui G., Bonell F., Capuj N.E., Chavez-Angel E., Pitanti A., Valenzuela S.O., Sotomayor-Torres C.M., Navarro-Urrios D., Costache M.V. Physical Review Letters; 125 (14, 147201) 2020. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.147201. IF: 8.385

  • Magnetism, spin dynamics, and quantum transport in two-dimensional systems

    Savero Torres W., Sierra J.F., Benítez L.A., Bonell F., García J.H., Roche S., Valenzuela S.O. MRS Bulletin; 45 (5): 357 - 365. 2020. 10.1557/mrs.2020.121. IF: 5.061

  • Molecular Approach for Engineering Interfacial Interactions in Magnetic/Topological Insulator Heterostructures

    Cuxart M.G., Valbuena M.A., Robles R., Moreno C., Bonell F., Sauthier G., Imaz I., Xu H., Nistor C., Barla A., Gargiani P., Valvidares M., Maspoch D., Gambardella P., Valenzuela S.O., Mugarza A. ACS Nano; 14 (5): 6285 - 6294. 2020. 10.1021/acsnano.0c02498. IF: 14.588

  • Opportunities and challenges for spintronics in the microelectronics industry

    Dieny B., Prejbeanu I.L., Garello K., Gambardella P., Freitas P., Lehndorff R., Raberg W., Ebels U., Demokritov S.O., Akerman J., Deac A., Pirro P., Adelmann C., Anane A., Chumak A.V., Hirohata A., Mangin S., Valenzuela S.O., Onbaşlı M.C., d’Aquino M., Prenat G., Finocchio G., Lopez-Diaz L., Chantrell R., Chubykalo-Fesenko O., Bortolotti P. Nature Electronics; 3 (8): 446 - 459. 2020. 10.1038/s41928-020-0461-5. IF: 27.500

  • The 2021 quantum materials roadmap

    Giustino F., Lee J.H., Trier F., Bibes M., Winter S.M., Valentí R., Son Y.-W., Taillefer L., Heil C., Figueroa A.I., Plaçais B., Wu Q., Yazyev O.V., Bakkers E.P.A.M., Nygård J., Forn-Díaz P., de Franceschi S., McIver J.W., Foa Torres L.E.F., Low T., Kumar A., Galceran R., Valenzuela S.O., Costache M.V., Manchon A., Kim E.-A., Schleder G.R., Fazzio A., Roche S. JPhys Materials; 3 (4, 042006) 2020. 10.1088/2515-7639/abb74e. IF: 0.000

  • Tunable room-temperature spin galvanic and spin Hall effects in van der Waals heterostructures

    Benítez L.A., Savero Torres W., Sierra J.F., Timmermans M., Garcia J.H., Roche S., Costache M.V., Valenzuela S.O. Nature Materials; 19 (2): 170 - 175. 2020. 10.1038/s41563-019-0575-1. IF: 38.663

2019

  • Investigating the spin-orbit interaction in van der Waals heterostructures by means of the spin relaxation anisotropy

    Benítez L.A., Sierra J.F., Savero Torres W., Timmermans M., Costache M.V., Valenzuela S.O. APL Materials; 7 (12, 120701) 2019. 10.1063/1.5124894. IF: 4.296

  • Spin communication over 30 μm long channels of chemical vapor deposited graphene on SiO2

    Gebeyehu Z.M., Parui S., Sierra J.F., Timmermans M., Esplandiu M.J., Brems S., Huyghebaert C., Garello K., Costache M.V., Valenzuela S.O. 2D Materials; 6 (3, 034003) 2019. 10.1088/2053-1583/ab1874. IF: 7.343

  • The phase diagram of 2D antiferromagnets

    Valenzuela S.O., Roche S. Nature Nanotechnology; 14 (12): 1088 - 1089. 2019. 10.1038/s41565-019-0592-x. IF: 33.407

2018

  • A barrier to spin filters

    Valenzuela S.O., Roche S. Nature Electronics; 1 (6): 328 - 329. 2018. 10.1038/s41928-018-0089-x.

  • Bottom-up synthesis of multifunctional nanoporous graphene

    Moreno C., Vilas-Varela M., Kretz B., Garcia-Lekue A., Costache M.V., Paradinas M., Panighel M., Ceballos G., Valenzuela S.O., Peña D., Mugarza A. Science; 360 (6385): 199 - 203. 2018. 10.1126/science.aar2009. IF: 41.058

  • Impact of the: In situ rise in hydrogen partial pressure on graphene shape evolution during CVD growth of graphene

    Gebeyehu Z.M., Arrighi A., Costache M.V., Sotomayor-Torres C.M., Esplandiu M.J., Valenzuela S.O. RSC Advances; 8 (15): 8234 - 8239. 2018. 10.1039/c7ra13169k. IF: 2.936

  • Strongly anisotropic spin relaxation in graphene-transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures at room temperature

    Benítez L.A., Sierra J.F., Savero Torres W., Arrighi A., Bonell F., Costache M.V., Valenzuela S.O. Nature Physics; 14 (3): 303 - 308. 2018. 10.1038/s41567-017-0019-2. IF: 22.727

  • Thermoelectric spin voltage in graphene

    Sierra J.F., Neumann I., Cuppens J., Raes B., Costache M.V., Valenzuela S.O. Nature Nanotechnology; 13 (2): 107 - 111. 2018. 10.1038/s41565-017-0015-9. IF: 37.490

2017

  • Experimental observation of the spin hall effect using electronic nonlocal detection

    Valenzuela S.O., Kimura T. Spin Current; : 247 - 263. 2017. 10.1093/oso/9780198787075.003.0014.

  • Graphene spintronics

    Cummings A.W., Valenzuela S.O., Ortmann F., Roche S. 2D Materials: Properties and Devices; : 197 - 218. 2017. 10.1017/9781316681619.012.

  • Growth of Twin-Free and Low-Doped Topological Insulators on BaF2(111)

    Bonell F., Cuxart M.G., Song K., Robles R., Ordejón P., Roche S., Mugarza A., Valenzuela S.O. Crystal Growth and Design; 17 (9): 4655 - 4660. 2017. 10.1021/acs.cgd.7b00525. IF: 4.055

  • Introduction

    Valenzuela S.O. Spin Current; : 187 - 207. 2017. 10.1093/oso/9780198787075.003.0011.

  • Spin Current

    Maekawa S., Valenzuela S.O., Saitoh E., Kimura T. Spin Current; : 1 - 520. 2017. 10.1093/oso/9780198787075.001.0001.

  • Spin precession in anisotropic media

    Raes B., Cummings A.W., Bonell F., Costache M.V., Sierra J.F., Roche S., Valenzuela S.O. Physical Review B; 95 (8, 085403) 2017. 10.1103/PhysRevB.95.085403. IF: 3.836

  • The 2017 Magnetism Roadmap

    Sander D., Valenzuela S.O., Makarov D., Marrows C.H., Fullerton E.E., Fischer P., McCord J., Vavassori P., Mangin S., Pirro P., Hillebrands B., Kent A.D., Jungwirth T., Gutfleisch O., Kim C.G., Berger A. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics; 50 (36, 363001) 2017. 10.1088/1361-6463/aa81a1. IF: 2.588

2016

  • Determination of the spin-lifetime anisotropy in graphene using oblique spin precession

    Raes B., Scheerder J.E., Costache M.V., Bonell F., Sierra J.F., Cuppens J., Van De Vondel J., Valenzuela S.O. Nature Communications; 7 ( 11444) 2016. 10.1038/ncomms11444. IF: 11.329

  • Spin Hall Effect and Origins of Nonlocal Resistance in Adatom-Decorated Graphene

    Van Tuan D., Marmolejo-Tejada J.M., Waintal X., Nikolić B.K., Valenzuela S.O., Roche S. Physical Review Letters; 117 (17, 176602) 2016. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.176602. IF: 7.645

2015

  • Graphene spintronics: The European Flagship perspective

    Roche S., Åkerman J., Beschoten B., Charlier J.-C., Chshiev M., Dash S.P., Dlubak B., Fabian J., Fert A., Guimarães M., Guinea F., Grigorieva I., Schönenberger C., Seneor P., Stampfer C., Valenzuela S.O., Waintal X., Van Wees B. 2D Materials; 2 (3, 030202) 2015. 10.1088/2053-1583/2/3/030202. IF: 0.000

  • Hot-Carrier Seebeck Effect: Diffusion and Remote Detection of Hot Carriers in Graphene

    Sierra J.F., Neumann I., Costache M.V., Valenzuela S.O. Nano Letters; 15 (6): 4000 - 4005. 2015. 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b00922. IF: 13.592

  • Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Insulators

    Ortmann F., Roche S., Valenzuela S.O. Topological Insulators: Fundamentals and Perspectives; : 3 - 10. 2015. 10.1002/9783527681594.ch1.

  • Spin Hall effects

    Sinova J., Valenzuela S.O., Wunderlich J., Back C.H., Jungwirth T. Reviews of Modern Physics; 87 (4): 1213 - 1260. 2015. 10.1103/RevModPhys.87.1213. IF: 29.604

  • Topological Insulators: Fundamentals and Perspectives

    Ortmann F., Roche S., Valenzuela S.O. Topological Insulators: Fundamentals and Perspectives; : 1 - 407. 2015. 10.1002/9783527681594.

2014

  • Fingerprints of inelastic transport at the surface of the topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3: Role of electron-phonon coupling

    Costache, M.V.; Neumann, I.; Sierra, J.F.; Marinova, V.; Gospodinov, M.M.; Roche, S.; Valenzuela, S.O. Physical Review Letters; 2014. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.086601. IF: 7.728

  • Graphene spintronics: Puzzling controversies and challenges for spin manipulation

    Roche, S.; Valenzuela, S.O. Journal of Physics D - Applied Physics; 2014. 10.1088/0022-3727/47/9/094011. IF: 2.521

  • Pseudospin-driven spin relaxation mechanism in graphene

    Tuan, D.V.; Ortmann, F.; Soriano, D.; Valenzuela, S.O.; Roche, S. Nature Physics; 10 (11): 857 - 863. 2014. 10.1038/nphys3083. IF: 20.603

  • Thermal Energy Harvesting

    Mouis M., Chávez-Ángel E., Sotomayor-Torres C., Alzina F., Costache M.V., Nassiopoulou A.G., Valalaki K., Hourdakis E., Valenzuela S.O., Viala B., Zakharov D., Shchepetov A., Ahopelto J. Beyond CMOS Nanodevices 1; 9781848216549: 135 - 219. 2014. 10.1002/9781118984772.ch7.

2013

  • Electrical detection of spin precession in freely suspended graphene spin valves on cross-linked poly(methyl methacrylate)

    Neumann, I.; Van De Vondel, J.; Bridoux, G.; Costache, M.V.; Alzina, F.; Torres, C.M.S.; Valenzuela, S.O. Small; 9 (1): 156 - 160. 2013. 10.1002/smll.201201194. IF: 7.823

  • Enhanced spin accumulation at room temperature in graphene spin valves with amorphous carbon interfacial layers

    Neumann, I.; Costache, M.V.; Bridoux, G.; Sierra, J.F.; Valenzuela, S.O. Applied Physics Letters; 2013. 10.1063/1.4820586. IF: 3.794

2012

  • Lateral metallic devices made by a multiangle shadow evaporation technique

    Costache, M.V.; Bridoux, G.; Neumann, I.; Valenzuela, S.O. Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures; 30: 4. 2012. .

2011

  • Enhanced spin signal in nonlocal devices based on a ferromagnetic CoFeAl alloy

    Bridoux, G.; Costache, M. V.; Van de Vondel, J. ; Neumann, I.; Valenzuela, S. O. Applied Physics Letters; 2011. .

  • Generation of pure spin currents in a single electron transistor with a superconducting island

    Costache, M.V.; Valenzuela, S.O. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering; 2011. 10.1117/12.890231 .

  • Magnon-drag thermopile

    Costache, M.V.; Bridoux, G.; Neumann, I.; Valenzuela, S.O. Nature Materials; 2011. .

2010

  • Experimental spin ratchet

    Costache, M.V.; Valenzuela, S.O. SCIENCE; 330: 1645 - 1648. 2010. 10.1126/science.1196228.

2009

  • Large-amplitude driving of a superconducting artificial atom : IIInterferometry, cooling, and amplitude spectroscopy

    Oliver, W.D.; Valenzuela, S.O. Quantum Information Processing; 8: 261 - 281. 2009. 10.1007/s11128-009-0108-y.

  • Nonlocal electronic spin detection, spin accumulation and the spin hall effect

    Valenzuela, S.O. International Journal of Modern Physics B; 23: 2413 - 2438. 2009. 10.1142/S021797920905290X.

  • Pulse imaging and nonadiabatic control of solid-state artificial atoms

    Bylander, J.; Rudner, M.S.; Shytov, A.V.; Valenzuela, S.O.; Berns, D.M.; Berggren, K.K.; Levitov, L.S.; Oliver, W.D. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; 80 2009. 10.1103/PhysRevB.80.220506.

2008

  • Amplitude spectroscopy of a solid-state artificial atom

    D.M. Berns; M.S. Rudner; S.O. Valenzuela; K.K. Berggren; W.D. Oliver; L.S. Levitov; T.P. Orlando Nature; 455: 51 - 57. 2008. 10.1038/nature07262.

  • Microwave-induced cooling of a superconducting qubit

    S.O. Valenzuela; W.D. Oliver; D.M. Berns; K.K. Berggren; L.S. Levitov; T.P. Orlando Science; 314 (5805): 1589 - 1592. 2008. 10.1126/science.1134008 .

  • Quantum Phase Tomography of a Strongly Driven Qubit

    M.S. Rudner; A.V. Shytov; L.S. Levitov; D. M. Berns; W.D. Oliver; S.O. Valenzuela; T.P. Orlando Physical Review Letters; 101: 190502. 2008. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.190502.