Interview: Peter Makk

⏹ 2DSPIN-TECH has started, what are your expectations for this project?

➡️ – This project gathers experts in the field of 2D spintronics and material growth. My hope is that it will catalyze the European research field by showing room temperature, fast and reliable spin-orbit torque devices. This project also builds on previous collaborations within the consortium and different expertise of the partners should allow to tackle our goals efficiently, says Peter Makk.

⏹ How difficult is it to control the twist angle when you prepare the heterostructure of 2D materials? Can it be done in an automatic way? 

➡️ – It depends. If you make a homobilayer, where the two materials are from the same kind, it is not that hard. In this case people in the field use the trick to cut the flake into two separate parts, which has the same crystallographic orientation. Then after picking up one of them and putting it back on the other part, the angle of rotation is only defined by the rotation stage precision and resolution. The challenge is to twist materials, that are from different crystals, i.e. heterobilayers, which then requires other characterization techniques to map out the crystallographic axes. In this case, much lower precision (around 1 degree) is possible. However, for our project though rotation angles are important, they likely will not have to be set with large precision.  

– The automation will happen in the future, since there are leading groups in the world who are working on this, but this will still take some time. 

⏹ What is the benefit of using spintronics instead of charged electrons for memory technology? 

➡️ – Energy-efficient spintronic technologies are expected to offer solutions for future non-volatile computing architectures. The first successful application of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in data storage has already shown not only the potential, but also the applicability of the field. Afterwards, novel technologies, like spin-transfer-torque (STT) have been put forward, which can be used for non-volatile memory applications. Spin-orbit torque (SOT) is expected to be energy efficient and is being considered for faster and ultra-low power switching of nanomagnets in memory, logic, and computing applications.

⏹ Can 2D materials be a game changer for spintronics? 

➡️ – I hope yes. What is really exciting in the field of 2D materials is the vast number of materials that became available, and the extreme flexibility how you can combine them. This is something, which “regular” growth techniques do not have. Moreover, there are several novel materials, where the topological properties and spin texture should allow the realization of highly efficient spintronic devices.

⏹ What is your own primary motivation in this project?  

➡️ – My main motivation comes from the fundamental science point of view. The 2D materials offer novel device architectures and concepts. If these layers are thin enough, there is a possibility to control their properties using gate electrodes, which is not possible in conventional metallic architectures. Moreover, some of their special, e.g. topological properties offer novel physical ways to operate our devices. My main motivation is to understand these novel functionalities. Luckily, e.g. these novel spin-to-charge conversion methods are expected to be not only interesting, but highly efficient, which is really important for the applications, says Peter Makk.

Text and photo: Jonas Löfvendahl

👉 Four facts about Peter Makk

✅ Title: Associate Professor.

✅ Location: Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

✅ Likes to do in spare-time: Sports (hiking, climbing).

✅ Has worked with Graphene and other 2DM since 2013.

Read more about 2DSPIN-TECH here.