Antiferromagnetic conductors with suitably broken spatial symmetries host spin-polarized bands, which lead to transport phenomena commonly observed in metallic ferromagnets. In bulk materials, it is the given crystalline structure that determines whether symmetries are broken and spin-polarized bands are present. In this study, I will introduce the related concept and key requirements for materials exhibiting spin-polarized bands, and I will focus on our recent experiments on that double-gate transistors realized on bilayers of van der Waals antiferromagnetic semiconductor CrPS4 allow the relevant symmetry to be controlled by a perpendicular electric displacement field, enabling the spin-polarization of the conduction band to be switched on and off. Because conduction band states with opposite spin-polarizations are hosted in the different layers and are spatially separated, these devices also give control over the magnetization of the electrons that are accumulated electrostatically. Our experiments show that double-gated CrPS4 transistors provide a viable platform to create gate-induced half-metallic conductors with 100% spin polarization at the Fermi level, as well as devices with a full electrostatic control of the total magnetization of the system.
Please register at our doodle if you want to join for pizza!
Location: Stuckelberg, Ecole de Physique
Time: Tuesday 19 November 2024, 12:30 for pizza, 13:00 start discussion