SPICE Workshop on Hybrid Correlated States and Dynamics in Quantum Materials, May 14th - 16th 2024
Shubhayu Chatterjee
Electrical control of magnetism has been a major technological pursuit of the spintronics community as it has far-reaching implications for data storage and transmission. Two-dimensional Van der Waals materials, owing to their highly tunable and versatile nature, provide new platforms to implement such control. In this talk, we will propose and analyze a novel mechanism for electrical switching of isospin degrees of freedom in chirally stacked graphene multilayers, leveraging the combination of (i) strong correlation effects due to the applied electric field and (ii) induced spin-orbit coupling from encapsulating transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) substrates. Specifically, we will demonstrate how a strong perpendicular electric field can lead to iso-spin polarized phases, which are both spin and orbital ferromagnets. Next, we will argue that the relative alignment of the top and bottom TMD substrates, together with the top and bottom gate voltages, can be used to selectively control and switch the said iso-spin polarization, thereby putting forward correlated Van der Waals materials as promising platforms for spintronics and valleytronics.