Manipulation of spin transport in graphene/transition metal dichalcogenide heterobilayers upon twisting

Autor(es)

Pezo, Armando ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Zanolli, Zeila ^{[2, 3, 4, 5]} ; Wittemeier, Nils ^{[2, 3]} ; Ordejon, Pablo ^{[2, 3]} ; Fazzio, Adalberto ^{[1, 6]} ; Roche, Stephan ^{[7, 2, 3]} ; Garcia, Jose H. ^{[2, 3]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Fed Univ ABC, Ctr Nat & Human Sci, BR-09210580 Santo Andre, SP - Brazil

^[2] CSIC, Catalan Inst Nanosci & Nanotechnol ICN2, Campus UAB, Bellaterra 08193, Catalonia - Spain

^[3] Barcelona Inst Sci & Technol, Campus UAB, Bellaterra 08193, Catalonia - Spain

^[4] Univ Utrecht, Dept Chem, Debye Inst Nanomat Sci, Utrecht - Netherlands

^[5] Univ Utrecht, ETSF, Utrecht - Netherlands

^[6] Brazilian Nanotechnol Natl Lab CNPEM, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[7] Inst Catalana Recerca & Estudis Avancats ICREA, Barcelona 08010 - Spain

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: 2D MATERIALS; v. 9, n. 1 JAN 2022.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

Proximity effects between layered materials trigger a plethora of novel and exotic quantum transport phenomena. Besides, the capability to modulate the nature and strength of proximity effects by changing crystalline and interfacial symmetries offers a vast playground to optimize physical properties of relevance for innovative applications. In this work, we use large-scale first principles calculations to demonstrate that strain and twist-angle strongly vary the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in graphene/transition metal dichalcogenide heterobilayers. Such a change results in a modulation of the spin relaxation times by up to two orders of magnitude. Additionally, the relative strengths of valley-Zeeman and Rashba SOC can be tailored upon twisting, which can turn the system into an ideal Dirac-Rashba regime or generate transitions between topological states of matter. These results shed new light on the debated variability of SOC and clarify how lattice deformations can be used as a knob to control spin transport. Our outcomes also suggest complex spin transport in polycrystalline materials, due to the random variation of grain orientation, which could reflect in large spatial fluctuations of SOC fields. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 16/14011-2 - Propriedades eletrônicas: interfaces entre isolantes topológicos (TI-TI)
• Beneficiário: Marcio Jorge Teles da Costa
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado