PhD ceremony Mr. S. Parui: Hot electron transport in metallic spin valve and graphene-silicon devices at the nanoscale
| When: | Fr 06-09-2013 at 12:45 |
PhD ceremony: Mr. S. Parui, 12.45 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen
Dissertation: Hot electron transport in metallic spin valve and graphene-silicon devices at the nanoscale
Promotor(s): prof. T. Banerjee, prof. B.J. van Wees
Faculty: Mathematics and Natural Sciences
We are in the age of nanotechnology where individual atoms, single electron charge and spin are all important for the development of new devices for the semiconductor industry. The celebrated “Moore's law” that governs this progress of the semiconductor industry, has predicted slowing of the trend by the end of 2013. Recently, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) has proposed the necessity of new materials with new or multiple functionalities, along with new methods to study their properties at the nanoscale.
Spintronics at the nanoscale offers a new paradigm for device operation in the ‘Beyond Moore’ technology. Graphene, a two-dimensional single atom thick honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms, has emerged as a promising material in spintronics. Spintronic, electronic and optoelectronic devices inevitably involve the transport of hot carriers. Hot electrons are widely used to study several aspects of spin-dependent transport and to characterize relevant transport parameters and scattering mechanisms in different transition-metal ferromagnets and normal metals in semiconductor based spintronic devices.
The research work described in this thesis was aimed to understand the hot electron transport in metallic spin valve and graphene-silicon devices at the nanoscale. The results presented in this thesis give new insights into both spin-independent and spin-dependent hot electrons scattering in diverse spintronic devices. The Gr/Si interface is considered to be very unique with several new phenomena yet unexplored. The nanoscale characterization technique used in this thesis will remain to be an important prerequisite for fabricating and studying solid state devices.