Scientists design first-ever 2D composite quantum material useful for spintronic devices like transistors & diodes

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Last Updated09/08/2023

Using some 2-D carbides or nitrides of transition metals, a team of scientists have computationally designed a new composite quantum material that exhibits an exotic quantum property called Rashba splitting, in colossal scale, in a metallic environment.

Scientists focused their computational research on 2-D quantum materials.
- These are materials with confined geometry in one of the directions.
- 2-D materials are important as they are easier to assimilate in devices.
This material can help interfacing with other substrates (2D substrates like graphene) in spintronic devices that take advantage of electron spin to achieve higher performance.
The team focused on creating composite 2-D quantum materials.
- These are quantum materials exhibiting two apparently different quantum properties.
- However, they are connected by the basic requirement of symmetries.
In their study, by proper choice of materials ingredients, the workers managed to demonstrate the existence of two distinct quantum phenomena.
- Rashba effect, a momentum-dependent splitting of spin bands
- Nonlinear anomalous Hall effect, arising from anomalous velocity of the electrons.

The scientists hope that the challenges of manufacturing Janus MXenes in the lab and at a large scale will be gradually overcome to bring benefits for devices, energy security, and the economy.

They are a class of matter or systems that allow us to exploit some of the unique properties of quantum physics and accomplish tasks that classical technology is incapable of.
The concept was originally introduced to identify some of the exotic quantum systems, including unconventional superconductors, heavy-fermion systems, and multifunctional oxides.
It has now morphed into a powerful unifying concept across diverse fields of science and engineering, including solid state physics, cold atoms, materials science and quantum computing.