Gate Control of Spin-Layer-Locking FETs and Application to Monolayer LuIO

A recent 2D spinFET concept proposes to switch electrostatically between two separate sublayers with strong and opposite intrinsic Rashba effects, exploiting the spin-layer-locking mechanism in centrosymmetric materials with local dipole fields. Here, we propose a novel monolayer material within this family, lutetium oxide iodide (LuIO). It displays one of the largest Rashba effects among 2D materials (up to k(R) = 0.08 angstrom(-1)), leading to a pi/2 rotation of the spins over just 1 nm. The monolayer was predicted to be exfoliable from its experimentally known 3D bulk counterpart, with a binding energy lower than graphene. We characterize and simulate the interplay of the two gate-controlled parameters for such devices: doping and spin channel selection. We show that the ability to split the spin channels in energy diminishes with doping, leading to specific gate-operation guidelines that can apply to all devices based on spin-layer locking.

Automated summary

A new 2D monolayer material called lutetium oxide iodide (LuIO) with strong Rashba effects has been proposed, which can be used for controlling spin channel selection in devices. The study characterizes and simulates the interplay of doping and spin channel selection, showing specific gate-operation guidelines for devices based on spin-layer locking.