CSC-IMEC-KU Leuven PhD Scholarship

chemhou

感兴趣的可以直接联系Ewald或Joris，也可以直接联系我！

2022-35:   SPIN TRANSPORT THROUGH METAL-ENCAPSULATED SILICON CLUSTERS
Microscopic and spin transport investigation of silicon-cluster-assembled materials to advance towards the design of cluster-based spintronic systems
Focus: spin transport, size-selected cluster deposition, metal dopants, structural and electronic characterization using scanning tunneling microscopy, spin valves and Hanle measurements

Required background: For this position we are searching for an excellent and highly motivated candidate with a Master degree in Physics (or an Engineering degree combined with interest in fundamental physics) and interest in solid state physics, nanomaterials, and quantum mechanics. The candidate should master english.

Supervisor: Ewald Janssens and Joris Van de Vondel

Summary:

Spintronics is an emerging field in which the quantum mechanical spin of the electron is used for switching purposes and information transfer. Future spintronic devices hold promise of faster switching speeds, less electric power consumption, and higher density of circuit elements. The continuous downscaling of contemporary electronics and the limited knowledge about spin scattering mechanisms demand for fundamental research of spin transport properties of silicon nanostructures. Silicon clusters are an ideal model system for such studies since their electronic properties are tunable by their number of composing atoms and by doping. Moreover, stable metal doped silicon clusters can be used as building blocks of cluster-assembled materials, offering a bottom-up approach to build silicon-based spin transport channels.

In this PhD project, we will produce beams of metal encapsulated silicon clusters in the gas phase, size-select the most stable clusters like Ta@Si16, V@Si16, W@Si12, and deposit them on flat surfaces. The morphology and electronic properties of assemblies of those endohedrally doped silicon cage clusters on the surfaces will be studied with low-temperature ultra-high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy techniques and compared with the intrinsic properties of the isolated clusters. Next, we will fabricated spin valve devices in which a thin layer of the size-selected clusters acts as spin channel between two ferromagnetic electrodes (made by nanofabrication in combination with cluster beam deposition). Transport measurements will elucidate the spin relaxation mechanisms and the possibility to tune the spin transport behavior by metal dopants and the size of the silicon clusters.

This research will increase the understanding of how spins travel in silicon nanostructures and advance toward the design of cluster-based spintronic systems.