2016/03/29 by Anna Giorgioni, A Giorgioni, Stefano Paleari +10 · 35 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advancements in Semiconductor Devices and Circuit Design #Condensed matter physics #Electron #Heterojunction #Optoelectronics #Physics #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum dot #Quantum mechanics #Quantum well #Semiconductor materials and devices #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spin engineering #Spin polarization #Spin transistor #Spins #Spintronics #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/ncomms13886
published in Nature Communications 7(1), 13886 (Nature Portfolio)
arxiv created 2016/03/29 · openalex publication_date 2016/12/21 · arxiv updated 2016/12/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Control of electron spin coherence via external fields is fundamental in spintronics. Its implementation demands a host material that accommodates the desirable but contrasting requirements of spin robustness against relaxation mechanisms and sizeable coupling between spin and orbital motion of the carriers. Here, we focus on Ge, which is a prominent candidate for shuttling spin quantum bits into the mainstream Si electronics. So far, however, the intrinsic spin-dependent phenomena of free electrons in conventional Ge/Si heterojunctions have proved to be elusive because of epitaxy constraints and an unfavourable band alignment. We overcome these fundamental limitations by investigating a two-dimensional electron gas in quantum wells of pure Ge grown on Si. These epitaxial systems demonstrate exceptionally long spin lifetimes. In particular, by fine-tuning quantum confinement we demonstrate that the electron Landé g factor can be engineered in our CMOS-compatible architecture over a range previously inaccessible for Si spintronics.