Silicon Spintronics

 

Nanoelectronics and Spintronics represent the vision of using the spin of electrons in addition to their charge to perform information storage and processing. Spin-based devices have the potential to make future computers non-volatile, faster, with memory and processing integrated into a single chip, all with reduced energy consumption. A profound impact on the development of spintronics could come from exploiting the spin degree of freedom in semiconductors, such as Silicon, Silicon/Germanium nanowires, and their 2D forms such as Silicene and Germanane.

 

The primary objective of this project is to establish a physical understanding of the fundamental processes of electronic charge and spin transport and manipulation in silicon based nanostructures. While relevant for the development of a spin based transistor and all spin logic devices, this work intends to reach well beyond that, aiming to develop new techniques to create and control the spin information in nano devices.

 

For realization of this we are developing novel approaches for device fabrication and new measurement techniques, which can lead to new fundamental physics experiments, and possibly new applications.