- back to listing
Past Events
Bismuth-Antimony Nanostructures in Advanced Spintronics
| Speaker: | Dr. Wang Xue-Sen |
| Affiliation: | Department of Physics, National University of Singapore |
| Date: | December 22, 2008 (Mon) |
| Time: | 4:00-5:00 p.m. |
| Venue: | Room 522, 5/F, Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building, HKU |
Abstract:
It is envisioned in ideal spintronics that information storage, transmission and processing are carried out using pure spin current and spin accumulation, which are controlled with electric field or voltage. Charge current is avoided in these processes so that they are dissipationless. Such dissipationless spin current and accumulation may be realized with quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE) in some semimetals and narrow-gap semiconductors. Bi and particularly Bi1-xSbx alloy are among these QSHE materials. In this talk, after introducing novel electronic properties of Bi and Bi1-xSbx related to QSHE, the self-assembly and in situ STM atomic-resolution characterization of Bi and Sb nanostructures will be presented. Ultrathin films, straight and branched nanorods have been obtained in pure self-assembly processes on inert substrates. Significant deviations from the bulk lattice have been observed in these semimetal nanostructures, which may affect their spintronic functions.
Coffee and tea will be served 20 minutes prior to the seminar.