2022.02.04
Professor Keun Su Kim (Department of Physics), Yonsei University, and his research team have discovered a new kind of semiconductor, ‘pseudo-spin semiconductor’, in a black-colored new material made of phosphorus(P) atoms. Similar spin semiconductors can expect better performance with less power consumption compared to conventional semiconductors, so the significance of this research result is great.
When the constituent atoms of a substance are arranged in a honeycomb shape, a new property called a similar spin(called a similar spin because it has a property similar to the spin of an electron, as the property of an electron appearing only in a substance with two partial lattices)has been known to appear previously. However, no material was found that could align and control this similar spin to develop a new concept of semiconductor devices.
The researchers found that if the honeycomb structure of the material folds in a certain direction, the pseudo-spin aligns in that direction. As a result of measuring the direction of the pseudo-spin in black phosphorus, a material arranged in a wrinkled honeycomb shape of phosphorus atoms, it is confirmed that more than 95% are aligned in one direction. In this process, the research team directly devised and used an experimental technique to measure the similar spin direction of electrons in matter.
In semiconductor technology until the end, if you have transmitted and stored information in a way that controls the flow of electrons to the external electrical signal, if you use the analogous spin alignment phenomenon, which is a unique property of black lin, more efficient information processing in a way that controls the direction of the analogous spin to the external electrical signal is expected to be possible. In particular, this sort phenomenon is stable even at high temperatures, and is more versatile because it appears independent of the thickness of the black lin.
As a follow-up study for the commercialization of usaspin semiconductors, the research team plans to challenge the discovery of usaspin giant magnetic resistance effect(a phenomenon in which a high magnetic resistance ratio appears according to the spin alignment direction of the electron, used on hard disks, etc.) using usaspin semiconductors.
Professor Keun Su Kim explained the significance of the research,”Usaspin semiconductors are usaspin versions of magnetic semiconductors, “ and ”The discovery of usaspin semiconductors may lead to a new field of next-generation semiconductor research called ‘Usaspin tronics’, in light of the case in which the discovery of magnetic semiconductors pioneered the field of spintronics."
The results of this research, conducted with the support of basic research projects(medium-sized research, leading research centers, and support for the use of large research facilities overseas)promoted by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Information and Communication and the Korea Research Foundation, were published on February 4 in the International journal Nature Materials.
Nature Materials, 19, 277–281 (2020)
See also, [Nature Materials]