Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/M023427/1
Title:	Engineering and imaging enhanced spin splittings in solids
Principal Investigator:	King, Professor PD
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	University of Tokyo University of Warwick
Department:	Physics and Astronomy
Organisation:	University of St Andrews
Scheme:	First Grant - Revised 2009
Starts:	01 July 2015	Ends:	30 September 2017	Value (£):	98,007
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Condensed Matter Physics Magnetism/Magnetic Phenomena
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 12 Feb 2015 EPSRC Physical Sciences Physics - February 2015 Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
An important emerging field in condensed-matter physics is spintronics, a variant of electronics exploiting the electron's spin. While this concept underpins the dramatic improvements in magnetic storage technology seen over the last two decades, active electronic devices such as spin-based transistors have proved much more elusive. A key challenge is to create a large spin splitting of the underlying electronic states of materials, a pre-requisite to their use for spintronic devices operating at room temperature and having small spatial dimensions. Moreover, this spin splitting must be electrically controllable to achieve switching in a device. Together, this would not only promise a route to fast and energy-efficient electronics, but would open unique possibilities for achieving coherent manipulation of electron spins for solid-state quantum devices. We will undertake a series of three complementary pilot studies aimed at identifying new approaches to stabilise spin splittings that are large compared to room temperature and that are tuneable using simple external control. We will build up a microscopic picture of how spin splitting can be created and manipulated in promising chalcogen and halide-based compounds, using advanced electron spectroscopy to directly visualise their electronic structure and probe how it can be tuned to maximise the effects of spin-orbit coupling. We will seek to disentangle the interconnected roles of multiple atomic orbitals, coupled real and momentum-space spin-orbital textures, and topological band structure properties. Through this, we will not only generate new fundamental understanding, but also develop novel combined methodologies for engineering spin splittings orders of magnitude larger than have been achieved in conventional semiconductor-based systems to date. The project is supported by partners from the UK and Japan, brining complementary expertise and capability in materials synthesis and theoretical modeling. It will utilise unique laboratory infrastructure in the UK as well as key national facilities to advance new levels of control over spin splitting in solids, providing a materials approach to underpin future quantum technologies.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk Summary Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.st-and.ac.uk