Phys.org May 10, 2018
An international team of researchers (Germany, USA – University of Michigan) has demonstrated that a single layer of tungsten and selenium in a honeycomb lattice produces a pair of electron states known as pseudospins that can encode the 1 and 0. They prodded electrons into these states with quick pulses of infrared light. The initial pulse has its own spin, known as circular polarization, that sends electrons into one pseudospin state. Pulses of light that don’t have a spin can push the electrons from one pseudospin to the other—and back again. The work opens the door to systematic valleytronic logic at optical clock rates…read more. Video TECHNICAL ARTICLE
An illustration showing the “up” and “down” pseudospin states, a light pulse and the hilly energy landscape experienced by the electrons. Credit: Stefan Schlauderer, University of Regensburg