CAREER: Quantum Spintronic Device Building Blocks with Magnetically Ordered Materials

This project will, at the fundamental level, explore how materials’ quantum properties, either natural or artificially engineered, can be utilized effectively to enhance future electronic device performance through a new class of spin-based device building blocks for potential applications in nanoelectronics. The project will help answer fundamental questions such as how novel hybrid magnetic heterostructures can be made into and used as device building blocks and how materials’ quantum mechanical features can be adopted as new mechanisms for future robust, efficient communication and computation. These efforts will potentially revolutionize technologies in Big Data, Advanced Electronics,and the Internet of Things. This project is expected to benefit researchers from spintronics, magnetism, and quantum materials, and effectively links undergraduate and graduate education to the research frontier. The research and education content developed therein will be used in outreach programs tailored for students from underrepresented groups to promote their interest in physics and encourage them to consider careers in science. The project will also involve education and outreach activities, developing cutting-edge research and education infrastructures and toolkits for nanoscience and quantum technology. This project will explore how solid-state orders (structural, electronic, and magnetic), as well as quantum-mechanical couplings in condensed matter systems, can affect spintronic properties, and study how these can be effectively controlled for future nanoelectronics device applications. It focuses on realizing novel and optimized device building blocks by using state-of-the-art hybrid antiferromagnet/heavy-metal/ferromagnet heterostructures. Specific thrusts include: (1) establishing a solid understanding of spin-orbit effects and their impact on spin dynamics in magnetic heterostructures; (2) realizing nanoscale, ultrafast readout spin state variables for coherent, reliable signal readout and propagation; and (3) developing nanoscale electrical and optical measurement toolkits for research and education in quantum science. The project is transformative in that it is expected to produce a platform that comprehensively incorporates magnetic heterostructures into nanoscale spintronic devices combining pronounced spin-orbit effects that enable both high energy-efficiency and ultrafast operating frequencies up to THz levels. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.