“That challenge has prevented us from theoretically studying spin in these fascinating material for the last two decades. “Spin structure is the most important part of a quantum phenomenon, but we’ve never really had a direct probe for it in these 2D materials,” said Jia Li, an assistant professor of physics at Brown and senior author of the research. Called a coupling, the absorption of microwave photons by electrons establishes a novel experimental technique for directly studying the properties of how electrons spin in these 2D quantum materials - one that could serve as a foundation for developing computational and communicational technologies based on those materials, according to the researchers. In the study, the team - which also include scientists from the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at Sandia National Laboratories, and the University of Innsbruck - describe what they believe to be the first measurement showing direct interaction between electrons spinning in a 2D material and photons coming from microwave radiation. They describe their solution in a new study published in Nature Physics. But a team of scientists led by Brown University researchers believe they now have a way around this longstanding challenge. This makes it incredibly difficult to fully understand the materials and propel forward technological advances based on them. Standing in the way is that the typical way in which scientists measure the spin of electrons - an essential behavior that gives everything in the physical universe its structure - usually doesn’t work in 2D materials. Doing so could spark key advances in the burgeoning world of 2D electronics, a field where super-fast, small and flexible electronic devices carry out computations based on quantum mechanics. For two decades, physicists have tried to directly manipulate the spin of electrons in 2D materials like graphene. Image: By observing spin structure in “magic-angle” graphene, a team of scientists led by Brown University researchers have found a workaround for a long-standing roadblock in the field of two-dimensional electronics.
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