Magnetoelectric effects and valley-controlled spin quantum gates in transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers

Abstract

In monolayer group-VI transition metal dichalcogenides, charge carriers have spin and valley degrees of freedom, both associated with magnetic moments. On the other hand, the layer degree of freedom in multilayers is associated with electrical polarization. Here we show that transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers offer an unprecedented platform to realize a strong coupling between the spin, valley and layer pseudospin of holes. Such coupling gives rise to the spin Hall effect and spin-dependent selection rule for optical transitions in inversion symmetric bilayer and leads to a variety of magnetoelectric effects permitting quantum manipulation of these electronic degrees of freedom. Oscillating electric and magnetic fields can both drive the hole spin resonance where the two fields have valley-dependent interference, making an interplay between the spin and valley as information carriers possible for potential valley-spintronic applications. We show how to realize quantum gates on the spin qubit controlled by the valley bit. Exploiting as many degrees of freedom of the electron as possible will make future electronic devices more versatile. Here, the authors show that coupling of spin, layer pseudospin and valley degrees of freedom in transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers makes them a promising platform for this purpose.