IRP11
theoretical project
Exploring the impact of disorder on the orbital Hall and orbital Edelstein effects in 2D materials
Location
Braga, Portugal
Host institution
International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) is an international research organization created to foster interdisciplinary research in nanotechnology and nanoscience. INL provides a high-tech research environment addressing major challenges in nanomedicine, nanotechnology applied to environmental & food control nanoelectronics, and nanomachines and molecular manipulation at nanoscale.
The Theory of Quantum Nanostructures group a consists of 3 doctoral candidates, 2 postdoctoral research fellows, two senior scientists and 4 cooperation associate senior scientists. The group explores the electronic and spin properties of quantum systems engineered with atomic scale precision.
Supervisor
Prof. Tatiana Rappoport
Description
This PhD project investigates how impurities and defects influence two key orbital transport phenomena: the orbital Hall effect (OHE) and the orbital Rashba–Edelstein effect (OREE). Although intrinsic orbital responses—those arising from the electronic band structure—have been extensively studied in recent years, much less is known about how these effects behave in realistic, imperfect materials. Impurities can strongly modify electron motion, giving rise to extrinsic mechanisms that may enhance, suppress, or even dominate the orbital signal. Understanding these processes is essential for developing reliable orbitronic materials and devices.
In related fields such as the spin Hall and anomalous Hall effects, extrinsic mechanisms like skew scattering and side-jump are known to play a central role, particularly at low and intermediate impurity concentrations. A similar interplay is expected in orbital transport, but the microscopic conditions under which extrinsic contributions become significant are still largely unexplored. This project aims to clarify when and how impurities generate transverse orbital currents and how these effects compare to their intrinsic counterparts.
The PhD candidate will contribute to this effort along three main directions:
Modelling disorder in orbital transport:
Developing and applying large-scale quantum transport methods to study how different types of impurities affect the OHE and OREE. This includes identifying regimes where extrinsic mechanisms become dominant and analysing how orbital currents respond to increasing disorder levels.
Method development within Quantum Kite:
Implementing new numerical routines within the open-source package Quantum Kite, including tools to compute frequency-dependent orbital responses and to treat disorder efficiently in large 2D systems. These developments will support future studies of orbital transport in realistic materials.
Requirements
- Master of Science in Physics
- Preferred : experience in computational physics
- Preferred : experience in spintronics/orbitronics
Planned Secondments
- Academic secondment at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, under the supervision of Jagoda Sławińska,
- Industrial secondment at MPhysX OÜ, under the supervision of Thierry Valet
Planned Secondments
Academic Secondment
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Groningen, Netherlands
Jagoda Sławińska
Industrial Secondment
MPhysX OÜ
Tallinn, Estonia
Thierry Valet
Registering University
University of Minho
