Seongshik Oh
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Materials Science
Computer memory that stores bits in tiny magnets could make computing faster and use far less energy, especially for future designs that compute inside the memory itself. These magnetic bits are flipped by spin-orbit torque, a push from electron spins.
- Fields
Materials Science
Physics
Engineering
- Topics
spintronics
spin-orbit torque
magnetic random-access memory
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2028
What they work on
- Grow wafer-scale van der Waals heterostructures pairing the room-temperature 2D ferromagnet Fe3GaTe2 with topological materials Bi2Te3 or WTe2, using molecular beam epitaxy to achieve atomically sharp interfaces.
- Fabricate magnetic memory devices from these heterostructures and test whether they switch magnetization by spin-orbit torque more efficiently than conventional three-dimensional materials.
- Use first-principles calculations to explain the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of the heterostructures and guide optimization of growth and device design.
More about the research
In today's three-dimensional materials, this push is limited by weak spin currents and imperfect interfaces. Atom-thin two-dimensional materials can do better, but so far only as tiny, fragile flakes peeled from crystals by hand. Industry cannot use flakes. It needs whole wafers.
Why it matters
Magnetic random-access memory that switches efficiently could cut the energy used by computers and enable memory-in-computing chips. Growing high-quality 2D magnetic heterostructures on whole wafers, rather than hand-made flakes, is a step the semiconductor industry needs before such materials can reach real devices.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Christian Binek
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE·Physics
Engineer interfaces in oxide and van der Waals layered stacks to control magnetic and electric order, defects and spin textures, aiming at memristive devices and neuromorphic, brain-inspired computing.
Davood Shahrjerdi
New York University, NY·Materials Science
Determine how polymer residues such as polyvinyl alcohol and paraffin interact with 2D materials like graphene and molybdenum disulfide, viewing the problem in terms of interface energy.
Keji Lai
University of Texas at Austin, TX·Physics
Measure the effective permittivity of excitons in monolayer semiconductors using cryogenic laser-illuminated microwave impedance microscopy, a scanning probe that senses local electrical response under light.
The school
Rutgers University-New Brunswick: 57 labs on PI Pages, $837M a year on research, 713 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.