Prototypical three-dimensional topological insulators of the Bi$_2$Se$_3$ family provide a beautiful example of the appearance of the surface states inside the bulk band gap caused by spin-orbit coupling-induced topology. The surface states are protected against back scattering by time reversal symmetry, and exhibit spin-momentum locking whereby the electron spin is polarized perpendicular to the momentum, typically in the plane of the surface. On the other hand, graphene is a prototypical two-dimensional material, with negligible spin-orbit coupling. When graphene is placed on the surface of a topological insulator, giant spin-orbit coupling is induced by the proximity effect, enabling interesting novel electronic properties of its Dirac electrons. We present a detailed theoretical study of the proximity effects of monolayer graphene and topological insulators Bi$_2$Se$_3$, Bi$_2$Te$_3$, and Sb$_2$Te$_3$, and elucidate the appearance of the qualitatively new spin-orbit splittings well described by a phenomenological Hamiltonian, by analyzing the orbital decomposition of the involved band structures. This should be useful for building microscopic models of the proximity effects between the surfaces of the topological insulators and graphene.
Misfit strain is inevitable in various heterostructures like the graphene/MoS 2 van der Waals heterostructure. Although the misfit strain effect on electronic and other physical properties have been well studied, it is still unclear how will the misfit strain affect the performance of the nanomechanical resonator based on the graphene/MoS 2 heterostructure. By performing molecular dynamics simulations, we disclose a misfit strain-induced decoupling phenomenon between the graphene layer and the MoS 2 layer during the resonant oscillation of the heterostructure. A direct relationship between the…
Vertical graphene heterostructures have been introduced as an alternative architecture for electronic devices by using quantum tunneling. Here, we present that the current on/off ratio of vertical graphene field-effect transistors is enhanced by using an armchair graphene nanoribbon as an electrode. Moreover, we report spin-dependent tunneling current of the graphene/MoS2 heterostructures. When an atomically thin MoS2 layer sandwiched between graphene electrodes becomes magnetic, Dirac fermions with different spins feel different height of the tunnel barrier, leading to spin-dependent tunnelin…
We have theoretically investigated the properties of electronic transport in graphene heterostructures, which are consisted of two different graphene superlattices with one-dimensional periodic potentials. It is found that such heterostructures possess an unusual tunneling state occurring inside the original forbidden gaps, and the electronic conductance is greatly enhanced and Fano factor is strongly suppressed near the energy of the tunneling state. Finally we present the matching condition of the impedance of the pseudospin wave for occuring the tunneling state by using the Bloch-wave expan…
We investigate theoretically the electronic structure of graphene and boron nitride (BN) lateral heterostructures, which were fabricated in recent experiments. The first-principles density functional calculation demonstrates that a huge intrinsic transverse electric field can be induced in the graphene nanoribbon region, and depends sensitively on the edge configuration of the lateral heterostructure. The polarized electric field originates from the charge mismatch at the BN-graphene interfaces. This huge electric field can open a significant bang gap in graphene nanoribbon, and lead to fully …
MXene-based heterostructures have received considerable interest owing to their unique properties. Herein, we examine various heterostructures of a prototypical MXene and graphene using density functional theory. We find that the adhesion energy, charge transfer, and band structure of these heterostructures are sensitive not only to the surface functional group, but also to the stacking order. Difference in work function dictates the direction and amount of electron transfer across the interface, which causes a shift in the Dirac point of the graphene bands in the heterostructures of monolayer…
Tunneling of quasiparticles between two nearly-aligned graphene sheets produces resonant current-voltage characteristics because of the quasi-exact conservation of in-plane momentum. We claim that, in this regime, vertical transport in graphene/boron nitride/graphene heterostructures carries precious information on electron-electron interactions and the quasiparticle spectral function of the two-dimensional electron system in graphene. We present extensive microscopic calculations of the tunneling spectra with the inclusion of quasiparticle lifetime effects and elucidate the range of parameter…
Van der Waals heterostructures of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride feature a moiré superlattice for graphene's Dirac electrons. Here, we review the effects generated by this superlattice, including a specific miniband structure featuring gaps and secondary Dirac points, and a fractal spectrum of magnetic minibands known as Hofstadter's butterfly.
We present first principles study of thermoelectric transport properties of sandwiched heterostructure of Graphene (G)/hexagonal Boron Nitride (BN)/G, based on Boltzmann transport theory for band electrons using the bandstructure calculated from the Density Functional Theory (DFT) based plane-wave method. Calculations were carried out for three, four and five BN layers sandwiched between Graphene layers with three different arrangements to obtain the Seebeck coefficient and Power factor in $T\sim 25-400$K range. Moreover, using Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations with very large simulation cel…
First principle calculations of the phonons of graphene-BN heterostructures are presented and compared to those of the constituents. We show that AA and AB' stacking are not only energetically less favoured than AB but also dynamically unstable. We have identified low energy flat phonon branches of BN character with out of plane displacement and evaluated their coupling to electrons in graphene.
We propose a theory of optical absorption in monolayer graphene-hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) heterostructures. In highly oriented heterostructures, the hBN underlay produces a long-range moiré superlattice potential for the graphene electrons which modifies the selection rules for absorption of incoming photons in the infrared to visible frequency range. The details of the absorption spectrum modification depend on the relative strength of the various symmetry-allowed couplings between the graphene electrons and the hBN, and the resulting nature of the reconstructed band structure.
We address the tunneling current in a graphene-hBN-graphene heterostructure as function of the twisting between the crystals. The twisting induces a modulation of the hopping amplitude between the graphene layers, that provides the extra momentum necessary to satisfy momentum and energy conservation and to activate coherent tunneling between the graphene electrodes. Conservation rules limit the tunneling to states with wavevectors lying at the conic curves defined by the intersection of two Dirac cones shifted in momentum and energy. There is a critical voltage where the intersection is a stra…
Graphene constitutes one of the key elements in many functional van der Waals heterostructures. However, it has negligible optical visibility due to its monolayer nature. Here we study the visibility of graphene in various van der Waals heterostructures and include the effects of the source spectrum, oblique incidence and the spectral sensitivity of the detector to obtain a realistic model. A visibility experiment is performed at different wavelengths, resulting in a very good agreement with our calculations. This allows us to reliably predict the conditions for better visibility of graphene i…
We investigate scattering of the topological surface state of a three-dimensional time-reversal invariant topological insulator when graphene is deposited on the topological-insulator surface. Specifically, we consider the (111) surface of a Bi$_2$Se$_3$-like topological insulator. We present a low-energy model for the bulk graphene-topological insulator heterostructure and we calculate the transmission probability at zigzag and armchair edges of the deposited graphene, and the conductance through graphene nanoribbon barriers and show that its features can be understood from antiresonances in …
We formulate a continuum model to study the low-energy electronic structure of heterostructures formed by graphene on a strong three-dimensional topological insulator (TI) for the case of both commensurate and incommensurate stacking. The incommensurability can be due to a twist angle between graphene and the TI surface or a lattice mismatch between the two systems. We find that the proximity of the TI induces in graphene a strong enhancement of the spin-orbit coupling that can be tuned via the twist angle.
Graphene and topological insulators (TI) possess two-dimensional Dirac fermions with distinct physical properties. Integrating these two Dirac materials in a single device creates interesting opportunities for exploring new physics of interacting massless Dirac fermions. Here we report on a practical route to experimental fabrication of graphene-Sb2Te3 heterostructure. The graphene-TI heterostructures are prepared by using a dry transfer of chemical-vapor-deposition grown graphene film. ARPES measurements confirm the coexistence of topological surface states of Sb2Te3 and Dirac π bands of grap…
Heterostructures formed between two different van der Waals materials enable interactions and functionalities absent in each component. In this work we show that vicinity to an atomically thin WSe$_2$ sheet dramatically impacts the energies of the symmetry-broken low Landau levels of bilayer graphene, possibly due to screening. We present a systematic study of the magnetic field and electrical displacement field dependences of the Landau level gaps at filling factor $ν$ = 1, 2, 3, and compare to BN encapsulated pristine bilayer graphene. The exchange-dominated energy splitting between the N = …
We present a new fabrication method of graphene spin-valve devices which yields enhanced spin and charge transport properties by improving both the electrode-to-graphene and graphene-to-substrate interface. First, we prepare Co/MgO spin injection electrodes onto Si$^{++}$/SiO$_2$. Thereafter, we mechanically transfer a graphene-hBN heterostructure onto the prepatterned electrodes. We show that room temperature spin transport in single-, bi- and trilayer graphene devices exhibit nanosecond spin lifetimes with spin diffusion lengths reaching 10$μ$m combined with carrier mobilities exceeding 20,0…
We study the superlattice minibands produced by the interplay between moiré pattern induced by hexagonal BN substrate on graphene layer and the interlayer coupling in bilayer graphene with Bernal stacking (BLG). We compare moiré miniband features in BLG, where they are affected by the interlayer asymmetry of BLG-hBN heterostructure and trigonal warping characteristic for electrons in Bernal-stacked bilayers with those found in monolayer graphene.
Charge transfer mediated anomalous photoluminescence enhancement in monolayer MoS2 graphene heterostructure via polystyrene assisted wet transfer
Nanomagnetism and Microscopy Laboratory, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad（印度理工学院海得拉巴分校）；Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Hyderabad（塔塔基础研究所海得拉巴分所）
We report on the fabrication and measurement of a graphene tunnel junction using hexagonal-boron nitride as a tunnel barrier between graphene and a metal gate. The tunneling behavior into graphene is altered by the interactions with phonons and the presence of disorder. We extract prop- erties of graphene and observe multiple phonon-enhanced tunneling thresholds. Finally, differences in the measured properties of two devices are used to shed light on mutually-contrasting previous results of scanning tunneling microscopy in graphene.
Previously, graphene nanoribbons set in lateral heterostructures with hexagonal boron nitride were predicted to support topologically protected states at low energy. We investigate how robust the transport properties of these states are against lattice disorder. We find that forms of disorder that do not couple the two valleys of the zigzag graphene nanoribbon do not impact the transport properties at low bias, indicating that these lateral heterostructures are very promising candidates for chip-scale conducting interconnects. Forms of disorder that do couple the two valleys, such as vacancies…
The surface-enhanced Raman scattering in graphene deposited on AlxGa1-xN/GaN axial heterostructure nanowires was investigated. The intensity of graphene Raman spectra was found not to be correlated with aluminium content. Analysis of graphene Raman bands parameters, KPFM and electroreflectance showed a screening of polarization charges. Theoretical calculations showed that plasmon resonance in graphene is far beyond the Raman spectral range. This excludes the presence of an electromagnetic mechanism of SERS and therefore suggests the chemical mechanism of enhancement.
We investigate spin transport through ferromagnetic graphene vertical heterostructures where a sandwiched tunneling layer is either a normal or ferroelectric insulator. We show that the spin-polarization of the tunneling current is electronically controlled via gate voltages. We also demonstrate that the tunneling current of Dirac fermions can be prohibited when the spin configuration of ferromagnetic graphene sheets is opposite. The giant electroresistance can thus be developed by using the proposed heterostructure in this study. The effects of temperature on the spin transport and the giant …
We study the effect of long-range disorder created by charge impurities on the carrier density distribution of graphene-based heterostructures. We consider heterostructures formed by two graphenic sheets (either single layer graphene, SLG, or bilayer graphene, BLG) separated by a dielectric film. We present results for symmetric heterostructures, SLG-SLG and BLG-BLG, and hybrid ones, BLG-SLG. As for isolated layers, we find that the presence of charged impurities induces strong carrier density inhomogeneities, especially at low dopings where the density landscape breaks up in electron-hole pud…
We introduce a method of local gating for van der Waals heterostructures, employing a few-layer graphene patterned bottom gate. Being a member of the 2D material family, few-layer graphene adapts perfectly to the commonly used stacking method. Its versatility regarding patterning as well as its flatness make it an ideal candidate for experiments on locally gated 2D materials. Moreover, in combination with ultra-thin hexagonal boron nitride as an insulating layer, sharp potential steps can be created and the quality of the investigated 2D material can be sustained. To underline the good feasibi…
We identify features in the angle-resolved photoemission spectra (ARPES) arising from the periodic pattern characteristic for graphene heterostructure with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). For this, we model ARPES spectra and intensity maps for five microscopic models used previously to describe moire superlattice in graphene/hBN systems. We show that detailed analysis of these features can be used to pin down the microscopic mechanism of the interaction between graphene and hBN. We also analyze how the presence of a moire-periodic strain in graphene or scattering of photoemitted electrons off h…
Van der Waals heterostructures composed of multiple few layer crystals allow the engineering of novel materials with predefined properties. As an example, coupling graphene weakly to materials with large spin orbit coupling (SOC) allows to engineer a sizeable SOC in graphene via proximity effects. The strength of the proximity effect depends on the overlap of the atomic orbitals, therefore, changing the interlayer distance via hydrostatic pressure can be utilized to enhance the interlayer coupling between the layers. In this work, we report measurements on a graphene/WSe$_2$ heterostructure ex…
We directly measure the electronic structure of twisted graphene/MoS2 van der Waals heterostructures, in which both graphene and MoS2 are monolayers. We use cathode lens microscopy and microprobe angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements to image the surface, determine twist angle, and map the electronic structure of these artificial heterostructures. For monolayer graphene on monolayer MoS2, the resulting band structure reveals the absence of hybridization between the graphene and MoS2 electronic states. Further, the graphene-derived electronic structure in the heterostructures r…
The diffusive motion of metal nanoparticles Au and Ag on monolayer and between bilayer heterostructures of transition metal dichalcogenides and graphene are investigated in the framework of density functional theory. We found that the minimum energy barriers for diffusion and the possibility of cluster formation depend strongly on both the type of nanoparticle and the type of monolayers and bilayers. Moreover, the tendency to form clusters of Ag and Au can be tuned by creating various bilayers. Tunability of the diffusion characteristics of adatoms in van der Waals heterostructures holds promi…
The propagation of charge carriers in graphene is compared to that in type II/III heterostructures for which a two-band Kane model is appropriate. In particular, conditions for a quantitative analogy between these two cases are searched for, and found to be quite restrictive. The analysis in this paper shows that the essential property of graphene is not the spinor character of its wavefunction but the linear dispersion relation, which does not hold in finite-gap two-band Kane-type semiconductors. Therefore, Kane-like and Dirac-like charge carriers behave differently, except in zero-bandgap se…
Enhancing the spin-orbit interaction in graphene, via proximity effects with topological insulators, could create a novel 2D system that combines nontrivial spin textures with high electron mobility. In order to engineer practical spintronics applications with such graphene/topological insulator (Gr/TI) heterostructures, an understanding of the hybrid spin-dependent properties is essential. {However to date, despite the large number of experimental studies on Gr/TI heterostructures reporting a great variety of remarkable (spin) transport phenomena, little is known about the true nature of the …
Understanding the energy transport by charge carriers and phonons in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals heterostructures is essential for the development of future energy-efficient 2D nanoelectronics. Here, we performed in situ spatially resolved Raman thermometry on an electrically biased graphene channel and its hBN substrate to study the energy dissipation mechanism in graphene/hBN heterostructures. By comparing the temperature profile along the biased graphene channel with that along the hBN substrate, we found that the thermal boundary resistance between the graphene and hBN was in the ra…
We study the behavior of non-equilibrium spin density and spin-orbit torque in a topological insulator - antiferromagnet heterostructure. Unlike ferromagnetic heterostructures where Dirac cone is gapped due to time-reversal symmetry breaking, here the Dirac cone is preserved. We demonstrate the existence of a staggered spin density corresponding to a damping like torque, which is quite robust against the scalar impurity, when the transport energy is in the topological insulator surface energy regime. We show the contribution to the non-equilibrium spin density due to both surface and bulk topo…
Injection or optical generation of electrons and holes in graphene bilayers (GBLs) can result in the interband population inversion enabling the terahertz (THz) radiation lasing. The intraband radiative processes compete with the interband transitions. We demonstrate that remote doping enhances the indirect interband generation of photons in the proposed GBL heterostructures. Therefore such remote doping helps surpassing the intraband (Drude) absorption and results in large absolute values of the negative dynamic THz conductivity in a wide range of frequencies at elevated (including room) temp…
The thermoelectric properties of in plane heterostructures made of Graphene and hexagonal Boron Nitride (BN) have been investigated by means of atomistic simulation. The heterostructures consist in armchair graphene nanoribbons to the sides of which BN flakes are periodically attached. This arrangement generates a strong mismatch of phonon modes between the different sections of the ribbons, which leads to a very small phonon conductance, while the electron transmission is weakly affected. In combination with the large Seebeck coefficient resulting from the BN-induced bandgap opening or broade…
Graphene-based vertical field effect transistors have attracted considerable attention in the light of realizing high-speed switching devices; however, the functionality of such devices has been limited by either their small ON-OFF current ratios or ON current densities. We fabricate a graphene/MoS2/metal vertical heterostructure by using mechanical exfoliation and dry transfer of graphene and MoS2 layers. The van der Waals interface between graphene and MoS2 exhibits a Schottky barrier, thus enabling the possibility of well-defined current rectification. The height of the Schottky barrier can…
The search of novel topological phases, such as the quantum anomalous Hall insulator (QAHI) or the axion insulator, has motivated different schemes to introduce magnetism into topological insulators. One scheme is to introduce ferromagnetic dopants in topological insulators. However, it is generally challenging and requires carefully engineered growth/heterostructures or relatively low temperatures to observe the QAHI due to issues such as the added disorder with ferromagnetic dopants. Another promising scheme is using the magnetic proximity effect with a magnetic insulator to magnetize the to…
We present a phenomenological theory of the low energy moiré minibands of Dirac electrons in graphene placed on an almost commensurate hexagonal underlay with a unit cell pproximately three times larger than that of graphene.A slight incommensurability results in a periodically modulated intervalley scattering for electrons in graphene. In contrast to the perfectly commensurate Kekulé distortion of graphene, such supperlattice perturbation leaves the zero energy Dirac cones intact, but is able to open a band gap at the edge of the first moiré subbband, asymmetrically in the conduction and vale…
We present a route to non-destructive functionalization of graphene via assembly of vertical all-carbon van der Waals heterostructures. To this end, we employ singlelayer graphene (SLG) sheets grown by low-pressure methane CVD on Cu foils and large-area dielectric ~1 nm thick amino-terminated carbon nanomembranes (NH2-CNMs) generated by electron-beam-induced crosslinking of aromatic self-assembled monolayers. We encapsulate SLG sheets on oxidized silicon wafers with NH2-CNMs via mechanical stacking and characterize structural, chemical and electronic properties of the formed heterostructures b…
We study the properties of edge states in in-plane heterostructures made of adjacent zigzag graphene and BN ribbons. While in pure zigzag graphene nanoribbons, gapless edge states are nearly flat and cannot contribute significantly to the conduction, at BN/Graphene interfaces the properties of these states are significantly modified. They are still strongly localized at the zigzag edges of graphene but they exhibit a high group velocity up to 4.3x10^5 m/s at the B/C interface and even 7.4x10^5 m/s at the N-C interface. For a given wave vector the velocities of N/C and B/C hybrid interface stat…
We investigate the plasmon dispersion relation and damping rate of collective excitations in a double-layer system consisting of bilayer graphene and GaAs quantum well, separated by a distance, at zero temperature with no interlayer tunneling. We use the random-phase-approximation dielectric function and take into account the nonhomogeneity of the dielectric background of the system. We show that the plasmon frequencies and damping rates depend considerably on interlayer correlation parameters, electron densities and dielectric constants of the contacting media.
The possible realization of dissipationless chiral edge current in a topological insulator / magnetic insulator heterostructure is based on the condition that the magnetic proximity exchange coupling at the interface is dominated by the Dirac surface states of the topological insulator. Here we report a polarized neutron reflectometry observation of Dirac electrons mediated magnetic proximity effect in a bulk-insulating topological insulator (Bi$_{0.2}$Sb$_{0.8}$)$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ / magnetic insulator EuS heterostructure. We are able to maximize the proximity induced magnetism by applying an elec…
We explore the electronic structure and topological phase diagram of heterostructures formed of graphene and ternary bismuth tellurohalide layers. We show that mechanical strain inherently present in fabricated samples could induce a topological phase transition in single-sided heterostructures, turning the sample into a novel experimental realisation of a time reversal invariant topological insulator. We construct an effective tight binding description for low energy excitations and fit the model's parameters to ab initio band structures. We propose a simple approach for predicting phase boun…
Topological insulator is composed of an insulating bulk state and time reversal symmetry protected two-dimensional surface states. One of the characteristics of the surface states is the locking between electron momentum and spin orientation. Here, we report a novel in-plane anisotropic magnetoresistance in topological insulator Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.8Se1.2/CoFe heterostructures. To explain the novel effect, we propose that the Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.8Se1.2/CoFe heterostructure forms a spin-valve or Giant magnetoresistance device due to spin-momentum locking. The novel in-plane anisotropic magnetoresistance ca…
We present a fast method to fabricate high quality heterostructure devices by picking up crystals of arbitrary sizes. Bilayer graphene is encapsulated with hexagonal boron nitride to demonstrate this approach, showing good electronic quality with mobilities ranging from 17 000 cm^2/V/s at room temperature to 49 000 cm^2/V/s at 4.2 K, and entering the quantum Hall regime below 0.5 T. This method provides a strong and useful tool for the fabrication of future high quality layered crystal devices.
We report the observation of ferromagnetic resonance-driven spin pumping signals at room temperature in three-dimensional topological insulator thin films -- Bi2Se3 and (Bi,Sb)2Te3 -- deposited by molecular beam epitaxy on yttrium iron garnet thin films. By systematically varying the Bi2Se3 film thickness, we show that the spin-charge conversion efficiency, characterized by the inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect length (lambda_IREE), increases dramatically as the film thickness is increased from 2 quintuple layers, saturating above 6 quintuple layers. This suggests a dominant role of surface stat…
A theory is developed for calculating vertical tunneling current between two sheets of bilayer graphene separated by a thin, insulating layer of hexagonal boron nitride, neglecting many-body effects. Results are presented using physical parameters that enable comparison of the theory with recently reported experimental results. Observed resonant tunneling and negative differential resistance in the current-voltage characteristics are explained in terms of the electrostatically-induced band gap, gate voltage modulation, density of states near the band edge, and resonances with the upper sub-ban…
We calculate the interference correction to the conductivity of doped transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) monolayers. Because of the interplay between valley structure and intrinsic spin-orbit coupling (SOC), these materials exhibit a rich weak localization (WL) behavior that is qualitatively different from conventional metals or similar two-dimensional materials such as graphene. Our results can also be used to describe graphene/TMDC heterostructures, where the SOC is induced in the graphene sheet. We discuss new parameter regimes that go beyond existing theories, and can be used to interp…
Thermoelectric measurements have the potential to uncover the density of states of low-dimensional materials. Here, we present the anomalous thermoelectric behaviour of mono-layer graphene-nanowire (NW) heterostructures, showing large oscillations as a function of doping concentration. Our devices consist of InAs NW and graphene vertical heterostructures, which are electrically isolated by thin ($\sim$ 10nm) hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) layers. In contrast to conventional thermoelectric measurements, where a heater is placed on one side of a sample, we use the InAs NW (diameter $\sim 50$ nm) …
Detail transport properties of graphene/MoS2/metal vertical heterostructure have been investigated. The van der Waals interface between the graphene and MoS2 exhibits Schottky barrier. The application of gate voltage to the graphene layer enables us to modulate the Schottky barrier height; thus gives rise to the control of the current flow across the interface. By analyzing the temperature dependence of the conductance, the modulation of Schottky barrier height Δϕ has been directly determined. We observed significant MoS2 layer number dependence of Δϕ. Moreover, we demonstrate that the device …
We investigate a topological insulator -- superconductor heterostructure with an Abrikosov vortex in a magnetic field. Large Zeeman field causes a topological phase transition in the system. We found that a Majorana fermion exists at the vortex core in the phase with zero first Chern number and does not exist at the phase with non-trivial first Chern number. This result is supported by the index theorem. This system provides an example in which a Majorana fermion emerges in a system with zero first Chern number.
In this letter, we propose the resonant tunneling diode (RTD) based on a double-barrier graphene/boron nitride (BN) heterostructure as device suitable to take advantage of the elaboration of atomic sheets containing different domains of BN and C phases within a hexagonal lattice. The device operation and performance are investigated by means of a self- consistent model within the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism on a tight-binding Hamiltonian. This RTD exhibits a negative differential conductance effect which involves the resonant tunneling through both the electron and hole bound st…
Memory cells are an important building block of digital electronics. We combine here the unique electronic properties of semiconducting monolayer MoS2 with the high conductivity of graphene to build a 2D heterostructure capable of information storage. MoS2 acts as a channel in an intimate contact with graphene electrodes in a field-effect transistor geometry. Our prototypical all-2D transistor is further integrated with a multilayer graphene charge trapping layer into a device that can be operated as a nonvolatile memory cell. Because of its band gap and 2D nature, monolayer MoS2 is highly sen…
We demonstrate the van der Waals epitaxy of the topological insulator compound Bi2Te3 on the ferromagnetic insulator Cr2Ge2Te6. The layers are oriented with (001) of Bi2Te3 parallel to (001) of Cr2Ge2Te6 and (110) of Bi2Te3 parallel to (100) of Cr2Ge2Te6. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy indicates the formation of a sharp interface. At low temperatures, bilayers consisting of Bi2Te3 on Cr2Ge2Te6 exhibit a large anomalous Hall effect (AHE). Tilted field studies of the AHE indicate that the easy axis lies along the c-axis of the heterostructure, consistent with magnetization meas…
Thanks to its unique symmetry, the unidirectional spin Hall and Rashba-Edelstein magnetoresistance (USRMR) is of great fundamental and practical interest, particularly in the context of reading magnetization states in two-terminal spin-orbit torque switching memory and logic devices. Recent studies show that topological insulators could improve USRMR amplitude. However, the topological insulator device configurations studied so far in this context, namely ferromagnetic metal/topological insulator bilayers and magnetically doped topological insulators, suffer from current shunting by the metall…
Precision control of interfacial structures and electronic properties is the key to the realization of functional heterostructures. Here, utilizing the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) both as a manipulation and characterization tool, we demonstrate the fabrication of a heterostructure in a single atomically precise graphene nanoribbon (GNR) and report its electronic properties. The heterostructure is made of a seven-carbon-wide armchair GNR and a lower band gap intermediate ribbon synthesized bottom-up from a molecular precursor on an Au substrate. The short GNR segments are directly writt…
We consider graphene on monolayer WSe$_2$ and the spin-orbit coupling induced by the transition-metal dichalcogenide substrate for application to spin-active devices. We study quantum dots and graphene quantum rings as tunable spin filters and inverters. We use an atomistic tight-binding model as well as the Dirac equation to determine stationary states confined in quantum dots and rings. Next we solve the spin-transport problem for dots and rings connected to nanoribbon leads. The systems connected to zigzag nanoribbons at low magnetic fields act as spin filters and provide strongly spin pola…
