Exploiting Magnetic Correlations in Low-dimensional Hybrid Quantum Systems: Towards Next-Generation Spintronic Devices

Mohammad Mushfiqur Rahman, Purdue University

Abstract

In recent years, correlated magnetic phenomena have emerged as a unique resource for enabling alternative computing, memory, and sensing applications. This has led to the exploration of novel magnetic hybrid platforms with the promise of improved figures of merit over the state-of-the-art. In this dissertation, we delve into several example platforms where magnets interact with various other degrees of freedom, resulting in enhanced figures of merit and/or the emergence of novel functionalities.First, we investigate the possibility of utilizing the collective resonant mode of nanomagnets to enhance the electric field sensitivity of quantum spin defects. While quantum systems have garnered significant attention in recent years for their extraordinary potential in information processing, their potential in the field of quantum sensing remains yet to be fully explored. Quantum systems, with their inherent fragility to external signals, can be harnessed as powerful tools to develop highly efficient sensors. In this dissertation, we explore the potential of a specific type of quantum sensor, namely the quantum spin defects as an electric field sensor, when integrated with a nanomagnet/piezoelectric composite multiferroic. This integration yields at least an order of magnitude enhancement in sensitivity, presenting a promising avenue for quantum sensing applications.Next, we shift our focus towards harnessing magnetic correlation in the emerging class of atomically thin magnets known as van der Waals magnets. These magnets provide distinctive opportunities for controlling and exploiting magnetic correlations. Specifically, these platforms allow for tunable magnetic interactions by twisting two vertically adjacent layers of the magnet, features that are unique to van der Waals materials. By capitalizing on such twist degrees of freedom, we demonstrate the creation of twist-tunable nanoscale magnetic ground states. This capability opens up avenues for applications such as high-density memories and magnon crystals.Interestingly, the same material platform also allows for exploiting magnetic correlation by controlling the local electrical environment. We uncover the symmetry-allowed spincharge coupling mechanisms in the heterostructures of such magnets, a prediction that has received experimental support. Utilizing such understanding, we propose a setup for the electrical generation of magnons. Magnons—the elementary excitation of spin waves—have garnered a lot of attention these days due to their potential to couple various diverse physical systems and in the field of low dissipation computing. Our findings offer a potential pathway towards the realization of magnon-based spintronic devices.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Upadhyaya, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Physics|Atomic physics|Electromagnetics

COinS