Speaker Dr Fasil Dejene, Department of Physics, Loughborough University.
Abstract:
Spin caloritronics explores the generation, coupling, and control of charge, spin, and heat currents to engineer novel functional devices capable of reading and writing data using waste heat. This complex interplay between various degrees of freedom is heavily influenced by strong spin-orbit coupling, reduced dimensionality, and broken crystal symmetries. Two-dimensional (2D) materials and their heterostructures provide a unique, atomically thin platform to investigate these interactions.
In the first part of my talk, I will present our recent progress in developing new methodologies for the simultaneous measurement of resistivity, Hall, Seebeck, and Nernst responses in thin WTe₂, revealing coupled quantum oscillations across both electrical and thermoelectric properties.
I will then demonstrate how current-induced spin polarisation in WTe₂ can be detected using magnetic contacts, yielding a characteristic three-level response that reflects robust surface spin accumulation and strong spin-orbit torques.
Finally, I will discuss the magnetic proximity effect and flux pinning in heterostructures, demonstrating how magnetic domains in CrGeTe₃ can be utilised to drive an asymmetric critical current in NbSe₂ superconducting diode devices.