Innovative Electric Field Discovered to Boost Electronic and Optical Devices: CityUHK Researchers
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Hong Kong, Dec 8 (NationPress) Researchers from City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) revealed on Sunday that they have identified a novel vortex electric field which could significantly improve upcoming electronic, magnetic, and optical devices.
This research, featured in Science, is extremely important as it has the potential to enhance the performance of numerous devices, notably by improving memory reliability and computing efficiency.
Further investigations into the vortex electric field could also influence the realms of quantum computing, spintronics, and nanotechnology in the future.
“Historically, creating a vortex electric field necessitated costly thin film deposition techniques and intricate processes. Our findings, however, indicate that a simple twist in bilayer 2D materials can effortlessly generate this vortex electric field,” stated Professor Ly Thuc Hue from the Department of Chemistry.
To ensure a clean interface, researchers traditionally synthesized bilayers directly.
Nonetheless, maintaining flexibility in twisting angles, especially for low-angle twists, poses significant challenges.
Professor Ly's team developed the innovative ice-assisted transfer technique, which has proven essential for achieving a clean interface between bilayers, enabling them to manipulate and create twisted bilayers with ease.
In contrast to earlier studies that concentrated on twist angles of less than 3 degrees, their technique permitted the creation of a wide range of twist angles from 0 to 60 degrees, utilizing both synthesis and artificial stacking via ice-assisted transfer.
The remarkable discovery of this new vortex electric field within the twisted bilayer has also led to the formation of a 2D quasicrystal, which may enhance future electronic, magnetic, and optical devices.
Professor Ly noted that these structures can have a diverse array of applications, as the generated vortex electric field varies with the twist angle.
The subsequent steps in their research will concentrate on further manipulating the material, such as investigating the possibility of stacking additional layers or determining if similar effects can be achieved with other materials.
Having secured a patent for their ice-assisted transfer technique, the team is eager to see if additional discoveries can be made worldwide with their method, now that clean bilayer interfaces can be achieved without extensive and costly procedures.
