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A mesoscopic multi-terminal superconducting Nb strip with a spin injection terminal has been developed. We investigate the influence of the spin polarization on the relaxation process of the quasiparticle in the superconducting Nb. The position dependence of the nonlocal voltage provides the quasiparticle relaxation length. The relaxation length for the spin-polarized quasiparticle is found to show 12.5 percent increase from that for the un-polarized quasiparticle. This demonstration opens a new avenue for utilization of the the spin current in a superconducting device.

Out-of-plane spin polarization {\sigma}_z has attracted increasing interests of researchers recently, due to its potential in high-density and low-power spintronic devices. Noncollinear antiferromagnet (AFM), which has unique 120{\deg} triangular spin configuration, has been discovered to possess {\sigma}_z. However, the physical origin of {\sigma}_z in noncollinear AFM is still not clear, and the external magnetic field-free switching of perpendicular magnetic layer using the corresponding {\sigma}_z has not been reported yet. Here, we use the cluster magnetic octupole in antiperovskite AFM Mn3SnN to demonstrate the generation of {\sigma}_z. {\sigma}_z is induced by the precession of carrier spins when currents flow through the cluster magnetic octupole, which also relies on the direction of the cluster magnetic octupole in conjunction with the applied current. With the aid of {\sigma}_z, current induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) switching of adjacent perpendicular ferromagnet is realized without external magnetic field. Our findings present a new perspective to the generation of out-of-plane spin polarizations via noncollinear AFM spin structure, and provide a potential path to realize ultrafast high-density applications., Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Nat. Commun

In this article, for the first time, we propose a silicene-based spin filter having a TFET configuration. The device portrays a voltage-dependent spin polarization and achieves a “spin polarization” as high as 98% at a minimal “operating voltage” (0.35 V). The operation of the device is based on the “spin-polarized edge states” in a silicene nanoribbon. The “spin polarization” of the output current can be tuned by modifying the bandgap of the spin-up and spin-down states via an in-plane perpendicular “electric field” generated by two “lateral gates.” The device features high spin polarization apart from its expected integration with Si-based technology. The proposed device has a simple construction, wherein a single layer of Si atoms achieves such a high value of spin polarization at a minimal operating voltage. The operation of the proposed device is demonstrated by using the first-principles quantum transport simulations.

In this paper, we present the results obtained from our study on the heat current across double quantum dots in serial coupled to ferromagnetic leads (FM-DQDs-FM), when the leads magnetic moments are in antiparallel configuration. This study was done by using nonequilibrium Green's function method in the linear response regime. Our results are calculated in weak interdot coupling regime by taking all the parameters that affect the system such as intradot Coulomb correlation energy, spin–spin exchange interaction, and spin polarization on the leads. These results are accomplished as a function of temperature gradient as well as quantum dots energy levels. According to our results, it is noticed that the values of intradot Coulomb correlation energy and the spin–spin exchange interaction have significant impact on increasing the heat current that flows through our system. It is concluded that increasing or decreasing the magnitude of heat current in negative or positive thermal bias is ideal for designing high-efficiency heat diode.

A change in the sign of the ground-state electron spin polarization (ESP) is reported in complexes where an organic radical (nitronylnitroxide, NN) is covalently attached to a donor–acceptor chromophore via two different meta-phenylene bridges in (bpy)Pt(CAT-m-Ph-NN) (mPh-Pt) and (bpy)Pt(CAT-6-Me-m-Ph-NN) (6-Me-mPh-Pt) (bpy = 5,5′-di-tert-butyl-2,2′-bipyridine, CAT = 3-tert-butylcatecholate, m-Ph = meta-phenylene). These molecules represent a new class of chromophores that can be photoexcited with visible light to produce an initial exchange-coupled, 3-spin (bpy˙−, CAT+˙ = semiquinone (SQ), and NN), charge-separated doublet 2S1 (S = chromophore excited spin singlet configuration) excited state. Following excitation, the 2S1 state rapidly decays to the ground state by magnetic exchange-mediated enhanced internal conversion via the 2T1 (T = chromophore excited spin triplet configuration) state. This process generates emissive ground state ESP in 6-Me-mPh-Pt while for mPh-Pt the ESP is absorptive. It is proposed that the emissive polarization in 6-Me-mPh-Pt results from zero-field splitting induced transitions between the chromophoric 2T1 and 4T1 states, whereas predominant spin–orbit induced transitions between 2T1 and low-energy NN-based states give rise to the absorptive polarization observed for mPh-Pt. The difference in the sign of the ESP for these molecules is consistent with a smaller excited state 2T1 – 4T1 gap for 6-Me-mPh-Pt that derives from steric interactions with the 6-methyl group. These steric interactions reduce the excited state pairwise SQ-NN exchange coupling compared to that in mPh-Pt., A change in the sign of the ground state electron spin polarization (ESP) is reported in complexes where an organic radical (nitronylnitroxide, NN) is covalently attached to a donor–acceptor chromophore via two different meta-phenylene bridges.

Electric field control of magnetic properties has been achieved across a number of different material systems. In diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs), ferromagnetic metals, multiferroics, etc., electrical manipulation of magnetism has been observed. Here, we study the effect of an electric field on the carrier spin polarization in DMSs ( GaAsMn ); in particular, emphasis is given to spin-dependent transport phenomena. In our system, the interaction between the carriers and the localized spins in the presence of electric field is taken as the main interaction. Our results show that the electric field plays a major role on the spin polarization of carriers in the system. This is important for spintronics application.

We systematically analyze the effects of the derivatives of the hydrodynamic fields on axial Wigner function that describes the spin polarization vector in phase space. We have included all possible first-order derivative contributions that are allowed by symmetry and compute the associated transport functions at one-loop using the linear response theory. In addition to reproducing known effects due to the temperature gradient and vorticity, we have identified a number of potentially significant contributions that are overlooked previously. In particular, we find that the shear strength, the symmetric and traceless part of the flow gradient, will induce a quadrupole for spin polarization in the phase space. We refer to this novel effect as the shear-induced polarization (SIP). Our results, together with hydrodynamic gradients obtained from hydrodynamic simulations, can be employed as a basis for the interpretation of the $\Lambda$ (anti-$\Lambda$) spin polarization measurement in heavy-ion collisions., Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, matched to the published version

The linear properties of magnetosonic waves are studied by using the separated spin evolution quantum hydrodynamic equations in which each electron and positron are treated as two different fluids. At the perpendicular propagation, we have only one magnetosonic wave which is affected by both spin polarization and concentration of positron. In the case of oblique propagation, we solve dispersion numerically and found that three wave solutions are obtained without taking into account separate spin evolution (SSE), but the oblique propagation with SSE gives five wave solutions, two of them are electron and positron spin-dependent wave solutions and have been reported for the first time. It is noted that the spin polarization and positron concentration reduce the phase velocities of the obliquely propagating spectra. Moreover, it is seen that the obliqueness effect enhances the frequency of all waves. Finally, the comparison with earlier reported results is also presented. For numerical analysis, we choose parameters relevant to astrophysical environments.

We theoretically investigate the dwell time for electrons in an antiparallel double $\delta $ -magnetic-barrier nanostructure, which is constructed on the surface of the InAs/Al x In1- x As heterostructure by patterning two ferromagnetic (FM) stripes. It is shown that the dwell time is dependent on electron spins due to the spin–field interaction between spins and magnetic fields. It is also shown that both magnitude and sign of the spin polarization in the dwell time can be modulated by the structural width or magnetic-strength difference between two magnetic barriers, which may give rise to a controllable temporal spin splitter for spintronics device applications.

To broaden the scope of van der Waals 2D magnets, we report the synthesis and magnetism of covalent 2D magnetic Cr$_2$Te$_3$ with a thickness down to one-unit-cell. The 2D Cr$_2$Te$_3$ crystals exhibit robust ferromagnetism with a Curie temperature of 180 K, a large perpendicular anisotropy of 7*105 J m-3, and a high coercivity of ~ 4.6 kG at 20 K. First-principles calculations further show a transition from canted to collinear ferromagnetism, a transition from perpendicular to in-plane anisotropy, and emergent half-metallic behavior in atomically-thin Cr$_2$Te$_3$, suggesting its potential application for injecting carriers with high spin polarization into spintronic devices.

In non-centrosymmetric metals, spin-orbit coupling (SOC) induces momentum-dependent spin polarization at the Fermi surfaces. This is exemplified by the valley-contrasting spin polarization in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) with in-plane inversion asymmetry. However, the valley configuration of massive Dirac fermions in TMDCs is fixed by the graphene-like structure, which limits the variety of spin-valley coupling. Here, we show that the layered polar metal BaMn$X_2$ ($X =$Bi, Sb) hosts tunable spin-valley-coupled Dirac fermions, which originate from the distorted $X$ square net with in-plane lattice polarization. We found that in spite of the larger SOC, BaMnBi$_2$ has approximately one-tenth the lattice distortion of BaMnSb$_2$, from which a different configuration of spin-polarized Dirac valleys is theoretically predicted. This was experimentally observed as a clear difference in the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation at high fields between the two materials. The chemically tunable spin-valley coupling in BaMn$X_2$ makes it a promising material for various spin-valleytronic devices., Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures. Published in Communications Materials

Topological aspects of the geometry of DNA and similar chiral molecules have received a lot of attention, while the topology of their electronic structure is less explored. Previous experiments have revealed that DNA can efficiently filter spin-polarized electrons between metal contacts, a process called chiral-induced spin-selectivity (CISS). However, the underlying correlation between chiral structure and electronic spin remains elusive. In this work, we reveal an orbital texture in the band structure, a topological characteristic induced by the chirality. We find that this orbital texture enables the chiral molecule to polarize the quantum orbital. This orbital polarization effect (OPE) induces spin polarization assisted by the spin-orbit interaction from a metal contact and leads to magnetorestistance and chiral separation. The orbital angular momentum of photoelectrons also plays an essential role in related photoemission experiments. Beyond CISS, we predict that OPE can induce spin-selective phenomena even in achiral but inversion-breaking materials., Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures, and Supplementary Materials

Due to the gapless between any two successive subbands with the same spin, the spin polarization in uniform MoS2 zigzag nanoribbon (MoS2-ZR) is weak. Here, through configuring Z-shaped structure, we realize 100% spin polarization in MoS2-ZR with only exchange field. The filtered spin electrons transmit along a specified edge of the device. This phenomenon is the result of the combined effect of the localized edge states and structure induced inversion of the Mo-edge and S-edge. In our calculation the fully spin polarization appears in several energy regions, so this Z-shaped MoS2-ZRs can be used in making spintronic devices.

We report the magneto-conductivity in a disordered 2D p-SiGe quantum well with interactions, which allows the weak anti-localization and the Zeeman effect to be ignored. The results seem to be quantitatively explainable in the context of theories on quantum corrections of a strongly interacting two-dimensional system. Analysis of the results provided Fermi constant values between −0.5 and −0.8 and the Lande g-factor values between g* = 0.71and g* = 0.85. In this system, a magnetic field strong enough to polarize the system induces a magneto-conductance and destroys the metallic state, implying that the spin state is responsible for the conductance of the metallic state, which is in accordance with several works in this framework.

Three-dimensional topological insulators have been demonstrated in recent years, which possess intriguing gapless, spin-polarized Dirac states with linear dispersion only on the surface. The spin polarization of the topological surface states is also locked to its momentum, which allows controlling motion of electrons using optical helicity, i.e., circularly polarized light. The electrical and thermal transport can also be significantly tuned by the helicity-control of surface state electrons. Here, we report studies of photo-thermoelectric effect of the topological surface states in Bi2Te2Se thin films with large tunability using varied gate voltages and optical helicity. The Seebeck coefficient can be altered by more than five times compared to the case without spin injection. This deep tuning is originated from the optical helicity-induced photocurrent which is shown to be enhanced, reduced, turned off, and even inverted due to the change of the accessed band structures by electrical gating. The helicity-selected topological surface state thus has a large effect on thermoelectric transport, demonstrating great opportunities for realizing helicity control of optoelectronic and thermal devices.

Significance Understanding the mutual influence between magnetic and topological properties in a solid system is a fundamental challenge for quantum materials research. The so-called axion insulator is one such case, with exotic properties related to the magnetoelectric effect. In this work, by combining chemical and magnetic-state sensitive electron and X-ray spectroscopies with first-principle calculations we reveal that EuSn2P2 holds the characteristics of an axion insulator and displays “hidden” electronic properties arising from its layer-dependent ferromagnetic character. As a function of the termination, we observe specific electronic states, holding a spin arrangement representative of a topological insulator. Furthermore, the direction of magnetization enables topological protection, a key property related to axion-based physics., We unravel the interplay of topological properties and the layered (anti)ferromagnetic ordering in EuSn2P2, using spin and chemical selective electron and X-ray spectroscopies supported by first-principle calculations. We reveal the presence of in-plane long-range ferromagnetic order triggering topological invariants and resulting in the multiple protection of topological Dirac states. We provide clear evidence that layer-dependent spin-momentum locking coexists with ferromagnetism in this material, a cohabitation that promotes EuSn2P2 as a prime candidate axion insulator for topological antiferromagnetic spintronics applications.

The interconversion of charge and spin currents via spin-Hall effect is essential for spintronics. Energy-efficient and deterministic switching of magnetization can be achieved when spin polarizations of these spin currents are collinear with the magnetization. However, symmetry conditions generally restrict spin polarizations to be orthogonal to both the charge and spin flows. Spin polarizations can deviate from such direction in nonmagnetic materials only when the crystalline symmetry is reduced. Here, we show control of the spin polarization direction by using a non-collinear antiferromagnet Mn3GaN, in which the triangular spin structure creates a low magnetic symmetry while maintaining a high crystalline symmetry. We demonstrate that epitaxial Mn3GaN/permalloy heterostructures can generate unconventional spin-orbit torques at room temperature corresponding to out-of-plane and Dresselhaus-like spin polarizations which are forbidden in any sample with two-fold rotational symmetry. Our results demonstrate an approach based on spin-structure design for controlling spin-orbit torque, enabling high-efficient antiferromagnetic spintronics., In the typical spin-hall effect, spin-current, charge current, and spin polarisation are all mutually perpendicular, a feature enforced by symmetry. Here, using an anti-ferromagnet with a triangular spin structure, the authors demonstrate a spin-hall effect without a perpendicular spin alignment.

Absence of spatial inversion symmetry allows a nonequilibrium spin polarization to be induced by electric currents, which, in two-dimensional systems, is conventionally analyzed using the Rashba model, leading to in-plane spin polarization. Given that the material realizations of out-of-plane current-induced spin polarization (CISP) are relatively fewer than that of in-plane CISP, but important for perpendicular-magnetization switching and electronic structure evolution, it is highly desirable to search for new prototypical materials and mechanisms to generate the out-of-plane carrier spin and promote the study of CISP. Here, we propose that an out-of-plane CISP can emerge in ferromagnetic transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayers. Taking monolayer [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] as examples, we calculate the out-of-plane CISP based on linear-response theory and first-principles methods. We deduce a general low-energy model for easy-plane ferromagnetic transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayers and find that the out-of-plane CISP is due to an in-plane magnetization together with intrinsic spin–orbit coupling inducing an anisotropic out-of-plane spin splitting in the momentum space. The CISP paves the way for magnetization rotation and electric control of the valley quantum number.

Spin valves based on materials in which the spin-flip is suppressed by the spatial separation of charge carriers, while maintaining electric neutrality in the valve volume, are considered. The possibility of using these valves as electric batteries is discussed. It is shown that if the potential difference across the valve is controlled, incommensurability effects such as the "devil's staircase" may be expected, which are associated with the Coulomb interaction and redistribution of electrons occurring while the battery is charged and discharged. The effects of the emergence and vanishing of spontaneous spin polarization of conduction electrons with a change in the Fermi level in the valve are predicted. Such spin valves can also be used in implementing spintronic memory cells, supercapacitors, and similar devices.

Measurement of the ground-state spin polarization of quantum systems offers great potential for the discovery and characterization of correlated electronic states. However, spin polarization measurements have mainly involved optical1–3 and NMR4,5 techniques that perturb the delicate ground states and, for quantum Hall systems, have provided conflicting results1,4,6. Here we present spin-resolved pulsed tunnelling (SRPT) that precisely determines the phase diagram of the ground-state spin polarization as a function of magnetic field and Landau level (LL) filling factor (ν) with negligible perturbation to the system. Our phase diagram shows a variety of polarized, unpolarized and topological spin states in the lowest (N = 0) LL, which can largely be described by a weakly interacting composite fermion (CF) model7. However, the phase diagram shows unexpected behaviour in the N = 1 LL. We observe fully polarized ν = 5/2 and 8/3 states but a partially depolarized ν = 7/3 state. This behaviour deviates from the conventional theoretical picture7,8 of weakly interacting fractional quasiparticles, but instead suggests unusual electronic correlations and the possibility of new non-Abelian phases9–11. The results establish SRPT as a powerful technique for investigating correlated electron phenomena. The spin polarization of a quantum Hall system is determined by a spin-resolved tunnelling method. This technique shows a substantial regime where the weakly interacting composite fermion picture is not valid.

The possibilities of surface plasma wave (SPW) on a metal-vacuum interface in semiconductor quantum plasma by considering the effects of Coulomb exchange (CE) interaction and the spin-polarization has been explored. The dispersion for the SPW has been setup using the modified quantum hydrodynamic (QHD) model taking into account the Fermi pressure, the quantum Bohm force, the CE, and the electron spin. The optical gain of SPW has been evaluated. It is found that CE effects and spin-polarization increases the wave frequency and enhances the gain during the stimulated emission.

The effects of lead positions and lead-ring coupling regimes are investigated for spin-related transport through a two-dimensional network of quantum nanorings (2DNQRs) considering Rashba spin–orbit interaction (RSOI) and magnetic flux. A matrix representation of the transmission and reflection coefficients through a single ring connected to the arbitrary number of leads has been introduced. As a specific example of 2DNQRs, the conductance, spin polarization and system efficiency are obtained via a triangular network of quantum rings (TNQRs). TNQRs are completely opaque or transparent versus RSOI strength and wave vector (k) of the incident electron. The periodicity of these functions along the k axis depends on the lead positions and is independent of lead-ring coupling. Also, the symmetric geometry and strong lead-ring coupling regime significantly improve the performance of the system as a multipurpose spintronic device (i.e., a perfect spin filter, spin splitter, spin switching, Stern–Gerlach device and an electronic switching device).

We use first-principles calculations to investigate the mechanism of the effect of native defects on the spin polarization and exchange coupling interaction in the V3O4 semimetal material. Our resu...

The effective spin polarization and spin filtering of a linear chain of N one-dimensional nanorings in the presence of the Rashba and Aharonov–Bohm effects are studied by considering three different lead–ring coupling regimes. Utilizing the transfer-matrix method, the optimal number of rings for maximizing the system efficiency is determined in the weak, medium, and strong lead–ring coupling regimes. The strong coupling regime is proposed for the design of spintronic devices as it exhibits the highest system efficiency. Furthermore, by tuning the Rashba strengths in the rings alternately, perfect spin filtering and full-range spin polarization with high efficiency can be obtained in narrow ranges of the incident electron wavenumber. Moreover, controlling the Rashba strength leads to the design of energy-filtering devices with a desired spin polarization, which could play a dominant role in spintronic technology.

Strongly intertwined interaction among spin, orbital and charge degrees of freedom is the essence to induce emergent materials properties, and the investigation to understand their interplay has been actively pursued. In particular, resonant X-ray scattering technique has demonstrated powerful applications in unveiling their long-range ordering behavior with its enhanced sensitivity to the aforementioned degree of freedom. Here, we further demonstrated the spectroscopic application of the technique by providing experimental evidence to reveal spin polarizations in 4f and 5d orbital of the magnetic Tm ions with the orbital-selectivity, which introduced a route to understand fundamental mechanism of spin polarization in the compound. The enhanced sensitivity of the resonant X-ray scattering to various electric multipole transitions expects to find strong applications in studying various spin and polar ordering in materials to include high-order moments.

A novel method to determine the spin polarization and its distribution for a spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer are proposed in this paper. The Larmor precession frequency is measured using the fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis result of the transient response of the magnetometer under the excitation of a series of the step-changed magnetic field. The spin polarization is extracted from the slow-down factor of the precession frequency. The variation of the spin polarization with different pump light intensities and the distribution of the spin polarization along the direction of the pump light are analyzed, and the experimental results are well consistent with the theoretical predictions. The expanded uncertainties of the experimental results vary from 2% to 11% with the increase of the spin polarization and the reason for this variation is analyzed. The advantage of this method is that it allows the accurate measurement of the spin polarization in the pump beam direction within the SERF regime operating state, and it is unaffected by the large optical depth of the vapor cell.