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SFB 1277:  Emergent Relativistic Effects in Condensed Matter: From Fundamental Aspects to Electronic Functionality

Subject Area Physics
Term since 2017
Website Homepage
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 314695032
 
The global push for quantum technologies and advanced electronic nanodevices is driving fundamental research into electronic materials with enhanced functionalities. Key developments stem from our ability to control electron spin—an inherently quantum-mechanical property responsible for magnetism, superconductivity, spintronics, and potentially qubits for quantum computing. The electrical control of spin, crucial for integration with conventional electronics, is enabled by the relativistic spin-orbit coupling. This interaction lies at the forefront of modern condensed-matter physics, giving rise to novel topological phases and transport phenomena. Alongside spin, orbital degrees of freedom are also emerging as key players. Pseudospin, linked to the atomic orbitals on lattice sites, and valley degrees of freedom, associated with special momentum states, can now be controlled, enabling effects akin to relativistic physics. CRC 1277 investigates such emergent relativistic effects in condensed matter through close collaboration between experiment and theory. We explore promising material structures to discover new phenomena that deepen our fundamental understanding of relativistic effects in solids and open prospects for novel functionalities. Key materials include graphene, topological insulators, and transition metal dichalcogenides. During the second funding period, CRC 1277 has made significant progress in engineering, detecting, and understanding electronic states that give rise to fascinating relativistic effects. Highlights include driving electrons in topological insulators with strong electric fields and tracking their momenta, combining ultrafast laser pulses with nanoscale spatial resolution to detect how spin-orbit effects shape defect states in 2D materials, and discovering the superconducting diode effect in Josephson junctions. Building on this progress, we propose a forward-looking research program for the third funding period. While we will continue, albeit with new scientific questions reflecting the advances made worldwide, the successful research on effective relativistic electrons in graphene and topological insulators, and the fundamental aspects of spin-orbit coupling in solids like transition metal dichalcogenides, we have restructured our project lines by adding a research area dedicated to electronic functionalities enabled by spin-orbit coupling, delivering on the CRC’s subtitle “From Fundamental Aspects to Electronic Functionality.” Emphasis will be placed on investigating spin-orbit torque in ferro- and antiferromagnets as the basis for next-generation random-access memories, spin-based relativistic phenomena in Josephson-junction arrays and superconducting diodes, and spin-supercurrent coupling in quantum dots for applications in quantum computing.
DFG Programme Collaborative Research Centres
International Connection China, Israel

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Applicant Institution Universität Regensburg
Spokespersons Professor Dr. Jaroslav Fabian, since 7/2023; Professor Dr. Klaus Richter, until 6/2023
 
 

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