September 22
@
8:00 AM
–
5:00 PM
Time and location TBD
Slidetronics in van der Waals heterostructures
Abstract:
In 2D materials, the energy scale of van der Waals interactions is comparable to that of electrostatic gating, sometimes enabling electrostatic control of the stacking order. For example, parallel-stacked bilayer hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) exhibits ferroelectric polarization, which allows an applied gate electric field to switch the polarization via interlayer sliding [1,2]. I will introduce our recent efforts to extend the capabilities of slidetronics, both for exploring fundamental physics and for applications such as nonvolatile memory. First, we investigate how the sliding degree of freedom can be coupled to quantum-mechanical properties of materials, such as magnetism. We extend slidetronics to tetralayer graphene and show that electrostatic hole doping can drive a sliding phase transition between Bernal and rhombohedral stacking. We further demonstrate that this transition enables nonvolatile switching between paramagnetic and ferromagnetic states [3]. Second, I introduce our efforts to realize lower-energy switching of sliding ferroelectrics by incorporating the concept of structural superlubricity.
Kenji Yasuda
[1] K. Yasuda et al., Science 372, 1458 (2021).
[2] K. Yasuda et al., Science 385, 53 (2024).
[3] D. Brandon, …, K. Yasuda, arXiv:2510.00220, Accepted in Nature Nanotech.
Bio:
Kenji Yasuda is an assistant professor in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell University since 2024. He earned his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the University of Tokyo in 2018 and completed his postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2023, where he pioneered the field of sliding ferroelectrics based on van der Waals heterostructures. His research interests lie in designing quantum nanomaterials and heterostructures to explore novel physical properties and functionalities. He has received several awards, including the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award and the IUPAP Early Career Scientist Prize in Semiconductors.
This event is hosted by ECE Assistant Professor Ying Wang.