Spintronic THz emitters based on heterostructures of transition metal and cobalt dichalcogenides obtained by liquid-phase exfoliation

M.S. Lapteva; A.V. Gorbatova; P.Yu. Avdeev; D.A. Abdullaev; A.I. Kartsev; E.A. Bulavintseva; A.A. Klimov; A.M. Buryakov

doi:10.18127/j22250980-202601-01

Spintronic THz emitters based on heterostructures of transition metal and cobalt dichalcogenides obtained by liquid-phase exfoliation

M.S. Lapteva¹, A.V. Gorbatova², P.Yu. Avdeev³, D.A. Abdullaev⁴, A.I. Kartsev⁵, E.A. Bulavintseva⁶, A.A. Klimov⁷, A.M. Buryakov⁸

research article UDC 537.9:621.382:539.23 Pages: 5-18 doi.org/10.18127/j22250980-202601-01

^1,2,3,6,8 MIREA – Russian Technological University (Moscow, Russia)
⁴ Institute of Nanotechnology of Microelectronics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia)
⁵ MIREA – Russian Technological University (Moscow, Russia); RUDN University (Moscow, Russia)
⁷ MIREA – Russian Technological University (Moscow, Russia); Kotelnikov Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences ((Moscow, Russia)

Keywords: Terahertz radiation spintronics transition metal dichalcogenides liquid-phase exfoliation magnetic anisotropy ultrafast demagnetization inverse spin Hall effect

Abstract

Problem Statement: there is a need to create spintronic terahertz radiation sources that go beyond traditional ferromagnet/heavy metal heterostructures. Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are promising as an interface for spin-charge conversion, but integrating TMDs obtained by liquid-phase exfoliation into THz emitters remains a technologically and methodologically challenging task.

Objective: to fabricate and characterize spintronic THz emitters based on TMD/Co heterostructures obtained by liquid-phase exfoliation, assessing the THz signal amplitude, and evaluate the role of interfacial spin-orbit conversion.

Results: spintronic THz emitters were fabricated based on heterostructures of three types of dichalcogenides (WS2, WSe2, MoSe2) synthesized by liquid-phase exfoliation. Morphological analysis (scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy) revealed a high coverage density of TMD crystallites (60–80%) with a characteristic size of 5–10 μm and a height of 20–500 nm. Analysis of the phase characteristics of THz pulses shows that, with integral recording, the dominant generation mechanism is ultrafast laser-induced demagnetization of cobalt.

Practical Relevance: this work demonstrates the potential of liquid-phase exfoliation as a method for producing active layers of spintronic THz sources. Replacing expensive heavy metals with two-dimensional semiconductors reduces costs and improves the scalability of the technology.

Received: 10.11.2025
Approved after review: 27.11.2025
Accepted: 23.01.2026

How to cite

Лаптева М.С., Горбатова А.В., Авдеев П.Ю., Абдуллаев Д.А., Карцев А.И., Булавинцева Е.А., Климов А.А., Буряков А.М. Спинтронные ТГц-излучатели на основе гетероструктур дихалькогенидов переходных металлов и кобальта, полученных методом жидкофазной эксфолиации // Нанотехнологии: разработка, применение - XXI век. 2026. № 1. С. 5–18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18127/j22250980-202601-01

References

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Jung G.-H., Yoo S., Park Q.-H. Measuring the Optical Permittivity of Two-Dimensional Materials without a Priori Knowledge of Electronic Transitions. Nanophotonics. 2019:8(2):263–270. https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2018-0120.
Hsu C., Frisenda R., Schmidt R., Arora A., de Vasconcellos S.M., Bratschitsch R., van der Zant H.S.J., Castellanos-Gomez A. Thickness‐Dependent Refractive Index of 1L, 2L, and 3L MoS 2, MoSe 2, WS 2, and WSe 2. Adv. Opt. Mater. 2019:7(13). https://doi.org/ 10.1002/adom.201900239.
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Lu C.-I., Huang C.-H., Ou Yang K.-H., Simbulan K.B., Li K.-S., Li F., Qi J., Jugovac M., Cojocariu I., Feyer V., Tusche C., Lin M.-T., Chuang T.-H., Lan Y.-W., Wei D.-H. Spontaneously Induced Magnetic Anisotropy in an Ultrathin Co/MoS 2 Heterojunction. Nanoscale Horizons. 2020:5(7):1058–1064. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0NH00108B.
Cheng L., Wang X., Yang W., Chai J., Yang M., Chen M., Wu Y., Chen X., Chi D., Goh K.E.J., Zhu J.X. Far out-of-equilibrium spin populations trigger giant spin injection into atomically thin MoS2. Nat. Phys. 2019:15(4):347 -351. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0406-3.
Buryakov A., Gorbatova A., Avdeev P., Bezvikonnyi N., Abdulaev D., Klimov A., Ovcharenko S., Mishina E. Controlled Spintronic Emitter of THz Radiation on an Atomically Thin WS2/Silicon Substrate. Metals. 2022:12(10):1676. https://doi.org/10.3390/met12101676.

[1] Banks P.A., Kleist E.M., Ruggiero M.T. Investigating the Function and Design of Molecular Materials through Terahertz Vibrational Spectroscopy. Nat. Rev. Chem. 2023:7(7):480–495. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-023-00487-w.

[2] Wu Y., Wang Y., Bao D., Deng X., Zhang S., Yu-chun L., Ke S., Liu J., Liu Y., Wang Z., Ham P., Hanna A., Pan J., Hu X., Li Z., Zhou J., Wang C. Emerging Probing Perspective of Two-Dimensional Materials Physics: Terahertz Emission Spectroscopy. Light Sci. Appl. 2024:13(1):146. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-024-01486-2.

[3] Seifert T.S., Cheng L., Wei Z., Kampfrath T., Qi J. Spintronic Sources of Ultrashort Terahertz Electromagnetic Pulses. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2022:120(18). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0080357.

[4] Hawecker J., Rongione E., Markou A., Krishnia S., Godel F., Collin S., Lebrun R., Tignon J., Mangeney J., Boulier T., George J.-M., Felser C., Jaffrès H., Dhillon S. Spintronic THz Emitters Based on Transition Metals and Semi-Metals/Pt Multilayers. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2022:120(12). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0079955.

[5] Papaioannou E.T., Beigang R. THz Spintronic Emitters: A Review on Achievements and Future Challenges. Nanophotonics. 2021:10(4):1243–1257. https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2020-0563.

[6] Pimenov N., Kartsev A., Lebedeva E., Mishina E. Fingerprint Raman Spectroscopy for Two-Dimensional MoS 2 x Se 2(1–x) Alloys. J. Phys. Condens. Matter. 2024:36(23):235303. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/ad2e26.

[7] Kormányos A., Zólyomi V., Drummond N.D., Burkard G. Spin-Orbit Coupling, Quantum Dots, and Qubits in Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides. Phys. Rev. X. 2014:4(1):011034. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.4.011034.

[8] Wang G., Robert C., Suslu A., Chen B., Yang S., Alamdari S., Gerber I.C., Amand T., Marie X., Tongay S., Urbaszek B. Spin-Orbit Engineering in Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Alloy Monolayers. Nat. Commun. 2015:6(1):10110. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10110.

[9] Docherty C.J., Parkinson P., Joyce H.J., Chiu M.-H., Chen C.-H., Lee M.-Y., Li L.-J., Herz L.M., Johnston M.B. Ultrafast Transient Terahertz Conductivity of Monolayer MoS 2 and WSe 2 Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition. ACS Nano. 2014:8(11):11147–11153. https://doi.org/10.1021/nn5034746.

[10] Buryakov A.M., Gorbatova A.V., Avdeev P.Y., Lebedeva E.D., Gusev N.S., Karashtin E.A., Pashen’kin I.Y., Sapozhnikov M.V., Mishina E.D. Hybrid Co/2D-WSe2-Based THz Spintronic Emitter with Tunable Polarization. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2025:127(5). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0274793.

[11] Roy A., Ghosh R., Rai A., Sanne A., Kim K., Movva H.C.P., Dey R., Pramanik T., Chowdhury S., Tutuc E., Banerjee S.K. Intra-Domain Periodic Defects in Monolayer MoS2. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2017:110(20). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4983789.

[12] Cheng L., Wang X., Yang W., Chai J., Yang M., Chen M., Wu Y., Chen X., Chi D., Goh K.E.J., Zhu J.-X., Sun H., Wang S., Song J.C.W., Battiato M., Yang H., Chia E.E.M. Far Out-of-Equilibrium Spin Populations Trigger Giant Spin Injection into Atomically Thin MoS2. Nat. Phys. 2019:15(4):347–351. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0406-3.

[13] Kłopotowski Ł., Backes C., Mitioglu A.A., Vega-Mayoral V., Hanlon D., Coleman J.N., Ivanov V.Y., Maude D.K., Plochocka P. Revealing the Nature of Excitons in Liquid Exfoliated Monolayer Tungsten Disulphide. Nanotechnology. 2016:27(42):425701. https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/27/42/425701.

[14] Li Z., Rashvand F., Bretscher H., Szydłowska B.M., Xiao J., Backes C., Rao A. Understanding the Photoluminescence Quenching of Liquid Exfoliated WS 2 Monolayers. J. Phys. Chem. C. 2022:126(51):21681–21688. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c05284.

[15] Chavalekvirat P., Hirunpinyopas W., Deshsorn K., Jitapunkul K., Iamprasertkun P. Liquid Phase Exfoliation of 2D Materials and Its Electrochemical Applications in the Data-Driven Future. Precis. Chem. 2024:2(7):300–329. https://doi.org/10.1021/prechem.3c00119.

[16] Telkhozhayeva M., Teblum E., Konar R., Girshevitz O., Perelshtein I., Aviv H., Tischler Y.R., Nessim G.D. Higher Ultrasonic Frequency Liquid Phase Exfoliation Leads to Larger and Monolayer to Few-Layer Flakes of 2D Layered Materials. Langmuir. 2021:37(15):4504–4514. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c03668.

[17] Tao H., Zhang Y., Gao Y., Sun Z., Yan C., Texter J. Scalable Exfoliation and Dispersion of Two-Dimensional Materials – an Update. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2017:19(2):921–960. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6CP06813H.

[18] Huo C., Yan Z., Song X., Zeng H. 2D Materials via Liquid Exfoliation: A Review on Fabrication and Applications. Sci. Bull. 2015:60(23): 1994–2008. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-015-0936-3.

[19] Backes C., Higgins T.M., Kelly A., Boland C., Harvey A., Hanlon D., Coleman J.N. Guidelines for Exfoliation, Characterization and Processing of Layered Materials Produced by Liquid Exfoliation. Chem. Mater. 2017:29(1):243–255. https://doi.org/10.1021/ acs.chemmater.6b03335.

[20] Jung G.-H., Yoo S., Park Q.-H. Measuring the Optical Permittivity of Two-Dimensional Materials without a Priori Knowledge of Electronic Transitions. Nanophotonics. 2019:8(2):263–270. https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2018-0120.

[21] Hsu C., Frisenda R., Schmidt R., Arora A., de Vasconcellos S.M., Bratschitsch R., van der Zant H.S.J., Castellanos-Gomez A. Thickness‐Dependent Refractive Index of 1L, 2L, and 3L MoS 2, MoSe 2, WS 2, and WSe 2. Adv. Opt. Mater. 2019:7(13). https://doi.org/ 10.1002/adom.201900239.

[22] Berger A.J., Amamou W., White S.P., Adur R., Pu Y., Kawakami R.K., Hammel P.C. Magnetization Dynamics of Cobalt Grown on Graphene. J. Appl. Phys. 2014:115(17). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4864742.

[23] Lu C.-I., Huang C.-H., Ou Yang K.-H., Simbulan K.B., Li K.-S., Li F., Qi J., Jugovac M., Cojocariu I., Feyer V., Tusche C., Lin M.-T., Chuang T.-H., Lan Y.-W., Wei D.-H. Spontaneously Induced Magnetic Anisotropy in an Ultrathin Co/MoS 2 Heterojunction. Nanoscale Horizons. 2020:5(7):1058–1064. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0NH00108B.

[24] Cheng L., Wang X., Yang W., Chai J., Yang M., Chen M., Wu Y., Chen X., Chi D., Goh K.E.J., Zhu J.X. Far out-of-equilibrium spin populations trigger giant spin injection into atomically thin MoS2. Nat. Phys. 2019:15(4):347 -351. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0406-3.

[25] Buryakov A., Gorbatova A., Avdeev P., Bezvikonnyi N., Abdulaev D., Klimov A., Ovcharenko S., Mishina E. Controlled Spintronic Emitter of THz Radiation on an Atomically Thin WS2/Silicon Substrate. Metals. 2022:12(10):1676. https://doi.org/10.3390/met12101676.

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