Future Information Technologies: Germanium telluride's hidden properties at the nanoscale revealed
The Fermi surface of multidomain GeTe (111) bulk single crystal measured with high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission at BESSY II. © HZB
Germanium Telluride is an interesting candidate material for spintronic devices. In a comprehensive study at BESSY II, a Helmholtz-RSF Joint Research Group has now revealed how the spin texture switches by ferroelectric polarization within individual nanodomains.
Germanium telluride (GeTe) is known as a ferrolectric Rashba semiconductor with a number of interesting properties. The crystals consist of nanodomains, whose ferrolectric polarization can be switched by external electric fields. Because of the so-called Rashba effect, this ferroelectricity can also be used to switch electron spins within each domain. Germanium telluride is therefore an interesting material for spintronic devices, which allow data processing with significantly less energy input.
Russian German Cooperation
Now a team from HZB and the Lomonosov Moscow State University, which has established a Helmholtz-RSF Joint Research Group, has provided comprehensive insights into this material at the nanoscale. The group is headed by physical chemist Dr. Lada Yashina (Lomonosov State University) and HZB physicist Dr. Jaime Sánchez-Barriga. "We have examined the material using a variety of state-of-the-art methods to not only determine its atomic structure, but also the internal correlation between its atomic and electronic structure at the nanoscale," says Lada Yashina, who produced the high-quality crystalline samples in her laboratory.
Nanodomains observed in detail
Their microscopy investigations showed that the crystals possess two distinct types of boundaries surrounding ferroelectric nanodomains with sizes between 10 to 100 nanometres. At BESSY II, the team was able to observe two surface terminations with opposite ferroelectric polarization, and to analyse how these terminations correspond to nanodomains with either Ge or Te atoms at the topmost surface layer.
Ferroelectric polarization and spin texture
"At BESSY II, we were able to precisely analyze the intrincate relationship between the spin polarization in the bulk or at the surface and the opposite configurations of the ferroelectric polarization”, explains Jaime Sánchez-Barriga. The scientists also determined how the spin texture switches by ferroelectric polarization within individual nanodomains. "Our results are important for potential applications of ferroelectric Rashba semiconductors in non-volatile spintronic devices with extended memory and computing capabilities at the nanoscale," emphasizes Sánchez-Barriga.
- Electrocatalysis with dual functionality – an overviewHybrid electrocatalysts can produce green hydrogen, for example, and valuable organic compounds simultaneously. This promises economically viable applications. However, the complex catalytic reactions involved in producing organic compounds are not yet fully understood. Modern X-ray methods at synchrotron sources such as BESSY II, enable catalyst materials and the reactions occurring on their surfaces to be analysed in real time, in situ and under real operating conditions. This provides insights that can be used for targeted optimisation. A team has now published an overview of the current state of knowledge in Nature Reviews Chemistry.
- BESSY II: Phosphorus chains – a 1D material with 1D electronic propertiesFor the first time, a team at BESSY II has succeeded in demonstrating the one-dimensional electronic properties in phosphorus. The samples consisted of short chains of phosphorus atoms that self-organise at specific angles on a silver substrate. Through sophisticated analysis, the team was able to disentangle the contributions of these differently aligned chains. This revealed that the electronic properties of each chain are indeed one-dimensional. Calculations predict an exciting phase transition to be expected as soon as these chains are more closely packed. While material consisting of individual chains with longer distances is semiconducting, a very dense chain structure would be metallic.
- Did marine life in the palaeocene use a compass?Some ancient marine organisms produced mysterious magnetic particles of unusually large size, which can now be found as fossils in marine sediments. An international team has succeeded in mapping the magnetic domains on one of such ‘giant magnetofossils’ using a sophisticated method at the Diamond X-ray source. Their analysis shows that these particles could have allowed these organisms to sense tiny variations in both the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field, enabling them to geolocate themselves and navigate across the ocean. The method offers a powerful tool for magnetically testing whether putative biological iron oxide particles in Mars samples have a biogenic origin.