The Physics & Astronomy Colloquium Series presents Connie Li of United States Naval Research Laboratory, on “Direct Electrical Detection of Spin-momentum Locking in Topological Insulators”, on Friday, Oct. 18, at 4:10 p.m. in Clippinger Labs 194.
Connie Li
Abstract: Topological materials constitute a new quantum phase of matter distinct from the classic dichotomy of simple metals and semiconductors. The existence of this class of material was predicted from the study of electronic band topology, a branch of mathematics that describes properties that only change step-wise.
In this talk, I will first give an overview of the research at Naval Research Lab on topological materials, and discuss our work on topological insulator with an insulating bulk and time reversal symmetry protected surface states that exhibit spin-momentum locking – the spin lies in-plane and is locked at right angle to carrier momentum. This enables the direct control and conversion between charge and spin, where an unpolarized charge current produces a spin accumulation, and conversely the electrical injection of spin polarized electrons generate a charge accumulation.
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