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THz polarization control upon generation is a crucially missing functionality. THz spintronic emitters based on the inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) allow for this by the strict implicit orthogonality between their magnetization state and the emitted polarization. This control was until now only demonstrated using cumbersome external magnetic field biasing to impose a polarization direction. We present here an efficient voltage control of the polarization state of terahertz spintronic emitters. Using a ferromagnetic spin pumping multilayer exhibiting simultaneously strong uniaxial magnetic anisotropy and magnetostriction in a crossed configuration, an emitter is achieved where, in principle, the stable magnetization direction can be fully and reversibly controlled over a 90° angle span only by an electric voltage. To achieve this, an engineered rare-earth based ferromagnetic multilayer is deposited on a piezoelectric (1 − x) [ Pb (Mg 0.33 Nb 0.66) O 3 ] − x [ PbTiO 3 ] (PMN-PT) substrate. We demonstrate experimentally a reversible 70° THz polarization rotation by sweeping the substrate voltage over 400 V. This demonstration allows for a fully THz polarization controlled ISHE spintronic terahertz emitter not needing any control of the magnetic bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spintronic rf detectors are efficient nanoscale counterparts to conventional semiconductor-based components for energy harvesting and wireless communication at low input power. Here, we report on the optimization of the rectified output dc voltage using magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with strong perpendicular anisotropy of both the polarizing and free layers. The magnetization of the polarizing layer is fixed out-of-plane, while the free layer thickness is adjusted so that its magnetization orientation changes from in-plane to out-of-plane. Rectification dc output voltages in the mV range are obtained for moderate rf source powers with a signal-to-noise ratio of 26–39 dB for Prf = −25 dBm and a sensitivity ε of 300 mV/mW. The rectified signal shows a strong dependence on MTJ dimensions: it increases by a factor of 5–6 when reducing the diameter from 180 to 50 nm. Furthermore, this enhancement can be doubled when reducing the free layer thickness from 1.8 to 1.6 nm. This size-related enhancement is attributed to several jointly acting effects: the amplitude of the spin transfer torque that depends inversely on the diameter, the effective anisotropy that depends on the thickness of the excited layer, and the tunneling magneto-resistance ratio that for the devices studied here depends on diameter. The obtained results indicate that the geometry of the MTJ can be used to design spintronic based rf detectors with optimized sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]