Exploratory spintronics: Thin film, surface science & device physics

by Dr Karthik V. Raman (Ramanujan Faculty Fellow,Solid State & Structural Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore)

Tuesday 26 Aug 2014, 16:00 → 17:00 Asia/Kolkata

AG80 (Colaba Campus)

The field of organic spintronics, which utilizes organic molecules to transport spin information, has seen a major evolution in the recent years. Of particular interest is the study of interface interaction between a ferromagnet and an organic molecule. Recent studies have highlighted the creation of new interface states, formed by the hybridization of molecular orbitals with the spin-polarized bands of the surface, with unique electronic and magnetic character. Using organic junction devices, we demonstrate the richness of the interface spin-chemistry in developing new handles to functionalize the properties of the adsorbed molecules, opening up a molecular-genome initiative to develop spin-functional tailor-made devices. Similar study using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy has also provided promising results towards the objective of designing devices for storage, sensing and computing. In addition to the above work, a study on a particular class of novel memory technology using mixed ionic-electronic conductors displaying a memristor behavior will be discussed. A sufficient research interest has risen in using such class of materials to build future cognitive devices. [1] Karthik V. Raman, Alexander M. Kamerbeek, Arup Mukherjee, Nicolae Atodiresei et al., "Interface engineered templates for molecular spin memory devices", Nature 493, 509 (2013). [2] Karthik V. Raman, "Interface-assisted molecular spintronics" (Featured Article), App. Phys. Rev. 1, 031101 (2014)