Image Credit: Yi Zhang/Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences and Advanced Light Source, Berkeley Lab.
The Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) has launched two new programs to support research into 'Valleytronics'.
SIMES is a joint institute of the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Stanford University. The SIMES center conducts studies on interesting new materials that could hold promise for future photonic and electronic applications.
These awards are very important for SIMES. We have been establishing leadership in scientific areas that make SLAC unique. The awards significantly strengthen our core efforts in ultrafast science and quantum materials.
Tom Devereaux - Professor at SLAC and Director of SIMES
When electrons in a lattice of a 2D semiconductor move through as a wave with two energy valleys, it is commonly known as valleytronics. The characteristics of the energy valleys can be used to encode information.
Chalcogenides are the most desired valleytronic materials. They are made up of a heavy metal atom along with one or more atoms of sulfur, oxygen, tellurium or selenium. Many chalcogenides have the ability to form atomic scale layers naturally. Under specific conditions they acquire favorable special properties, which are of significant interest to researchers at SIMES.
For example, shining certain types of light onto some chalcogenides can control their electrons’ movements in ways that produce properties favorable for their use in efficient photodetectors, low-energy computer logic and data storage chips or quantum computers.
Yi Cui - SIMES Researcher
At the DOE Office of Science User Facilities and at SLAC’s laboratories, SIMES researchers will create new nanomaterials, carry out theoretical calculations and conduct experiments. The studies are to be carried out at the Linac Coherent Light Source and at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. The researchers aim to find out how to tune the materials in order to make the most their electronic properties.
SIMES and SLAC provide a wonderful combination of expertise in material synthesis, advanced characterization capabilities and theory, bringing together the key ingredients to make progress in this exciting new field
Tony Heinz - Stanford/SLAC Professor and SLAC Chemical Sciences Division Director
Devereaux is leading the project entitled 'Induction and Dynamics of New States of Matter in Two-Dimensional Materials'. Aaron Lindenberg, Zhi-Xun Shen, and Tony Heinz are the co-researchers on this study.
The DOE’s 'Scientific Discovery through Ultrafast Materials and Chemical Sciences' program has provided funding for this study. SLAC has been selected as the only principal investigator for this program.
Yi Cui, a SIMES researcher is leading the second project entitled, 'Chalcogenide Nanomaterials'. Shoucheng Zhang, Hongtao Yuan, Harold Hwang and Jun-Sik Lee are the co-investigators of the project. With the seed funding received last year, this project had been a success. Based on this success, a core program has been established at SLAC by the DOE.