Wide-range ideal 2D Rashba electron gas with large spin splitting in Bi2Se3/MoTe2 heterostructure

Abstract

2D electron gas for nanoscale spintronic deviceseditor Calculations reveal the potential for a nanoscale spintronic transistor that works at room temperature. T. H. Wang and H. T. Jeng of Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University demonstrated through ‘first-principle’ calculations that an ideal two-dimensional electron gas, crucial for semiconductor spintronic applications, can be realized at room temperature in an insulating bismuth selenide ultrathin film grown on a semiconducting molybdenum titelluride substrate. The 2D electron gas formed in the ultrathin device demonstrated large ‘spin-splitting’, a separation between the two states of electron spin, which is needed for transistor-like devices. Spintronic devices use the intrinsic spinning property of electrons to process information instead of the electron charge used in conventional electronics. They could lead to devices that can store more data in a smaller space while consuming less power and using cheaper materials.