MASc seminar - Yihang Yang

Candidate

Yihang Yang

Title

Theoretical and Experimental Study of Magnetic Proximity Effect

Supervisor

Guo-Xing Miao

Abstract

Magnetic proximity effect in a heterostructure, which consists of a semiconductor thin film or a 2D material sheet and a ferromagnetic insulator film, has a great potential in spintronics applications. However, a complete study of magnetic proximity effect has been highly challenging. We theoretically and experimentally investigate the proximity-induced exchange splitting in a semiconductor thin film or a 2D material sheet adjacent to a ferromagnetic insulator layer. Theoretical calculations indicate that proximity-induced exchange splitting can largely enhance the performance of spintronic applications. Photoluminescence experiment shows that the spin splitting in the semiconductor thin film induced by the proximity effect can be directly controlled by the magnetization of the ferromagnetic insulator layers. Such a sandwich structure not only serves as a platform to clarify the magnetic proximity effect at ferromagnetic insulator/semiconductor interfaces but also provides insights into designing spin-filter superlattices which can generate fully spin-polarized currents.