Spin-Orbit Interactions in Transdimensional Heterostructures (Final Technical Report)

Abstract

A summary of the theory development for the fundamental understanding of intrinsic electronic processes and interactions in transdimensional heterostructures. The transdimensional regime lays in between three (3D) and two (2D) dimensions. Current research has been largely focused on purely 2D or conventional 3D materials, being guided by a traditional view that only the dimensionality and the chemical composition are important to control the physical properties of quantum materials. The transitional, transdimensional regime has been largely overlooked. The theoretical and experimental results reported herewith fill in this gap by providing the missing aspects of the spin-orbit interaction theory and the associated magneto-optical response for ultrathin films of metals and semiconductors in the transdimensional regime.