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The ever-increasing demand for efficient data storage and processing has fueled the search for novel memory devices. Spintronics offers an alternative fast and efficient solution using spin-to-charge interconversion. In this work, we demonstrate a remarkable thirty-four-fold increase in spin-to-charge current conversion when incorporating a 2D epitaxial graphene monolayer between iron and platinum layers by exploring spin-pumping on-chip devices. Furthermore, we find that the spin conversion is also anisotropic. We attribute this enhancement and anisotropy to the asymmetric Rashba contributions driven by an unbalanced spin accumulation at the differently hybridized top and bottom graphene interfaces, as highlighted by ad-hoc first-principles theory. The improvement in spin-to-charge conversion as well as its anisotropy reveals the importance of interfaces in hybrid 2D-thin film systems opening up new possibilities for engineering spin conversion in 2D materials, leading to potential advances in memory, logic applications, or unconventional computing., Comment: 33 pages with double-spaced paragraphs. 23 pages without references. 4 figures and one extended figure. Supplementary information, not shown, contains 21 pages and 23 supplementary figures

Plasmonic Cu nanoparticles were in-situ grown into a Cu$_2$O semiconductor matrix by using reactive magnetron sputtering and adjusting the amount of oxygen available during the synthesis in order to prevent the oxidation of part of copper atoms landed on the film surface. Varying only the oxygen flowrate (OFR) and using a single Cu target it was possible to observe the evolution in the simultaneous formation of metallic Cu and Cu$_2$O phases for oxygen-poor conditions. Suchformation is accompanied by the development of the surface plasmon band (SPB) corresponding to Cu, as evidenced by UV-Vis spectrophotometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry. The bandgap values of the elaborated composites containing embedded Cu plasmonic nanodomains were lower than the bandgap of single-phased Cu$_2$O films, likely due to the higher defect density associated to the nanocrystalline nature of films, promoted by the presence of metallic Cu. The resistivity of the thin films increased with more oxidative deposition conditions and was associated to an increase in Cu$_2$O/Cu ratio and smaller and more isolated Cu particles, as evidenced by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Photoconversion devices based on the studied nanocomposites were characterized by I-V and spectral photocurrent measurements, showing an increase in the photocurrent density under light illumination as consequence of the plasmonic particles excitation leading to hot carrier's injection in the nearby ZnO and Cu$_2$O semiconductors., Comment: ACS Applied Electronic Materials, American Chemical Society, 2022

Spintronics is showing promising results in the search for new materials and effects to reduce energy consumption in information technology. Among these materials, ferrimagnets are of special interest, since they can produce large spin currents that trigger the magnetization dynamics of adjacent layers or even their own magnetization. Here, we present a study of the generation of spin current by GdFeCo in a GdFeCo/Cu/NiFe trilayer where the FeCo sublattice magnetization is dominant at room temperature. Magnetic properties such as the saturation magnetization are deduced from magnetometry measurements while damping constant is estimated from spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR). We show that the overall damping-like (DL) and field-like (FL) effective fields as well as the associated spin Hall angles can be reliably obtained by performing the dependence of ST-FMR by an added dc current. The sum of the spin Hall angles for both the spin Hall effect (SHE) and the spin anomalous Hall effect (SAHE) symmetries are: $\theta_{DL}^{SAHE} + \theta_{DL}^{SHE}=-0.15 \pm 0.05$ and $\theta_{FL}^{SAHE} + \theta_{FL}^{SHE}=0.026 \pm 0.005$. From the symmetry of ST-FMR signals we find that $\theta_{DL}^{SHE}$ is positive and dominated by the negative $\theta_{DL}^{SAHE}$. The present study paves the way for tuning the different symmetries in spin conversion in highly efficient ferrimagnetic systems., Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures

Spintronics exploits spin-orbit coupling (SOC) to generate spin currents, spin torques, and, in the absence of inversion symmetry, Rashba, and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI). The widely used magnetic materials, based on 3d metals such as Fe and Co, possess a small SOC. To circumvent this shortcoming, the common practice has been to utilize the large SOC of nonmagnetic layers of 5d heavy metals (HMs), such as Pt, to generate spin currents by Spin Hall Effect (SHE) and, in turn, exert spin torques on the magnetic layers. Here, we introduce a new class of material architectures, excluding nonmagnetic 5d HMs, for high-performance spintronics operations. We demonstrate very strong current-induced torques exerted on single GdFeCo layers due to the combination of large SOC of the Gd 5d states, and inversion symmetry breaking mainly engineered by interfaces. These "self-torques" are enhanced around the magnetization compensation temperature (close to room temperature) and can be tuned by adjusting the spin absorption outside the GdFeCo layer. In other measurements, we determine the very large emission of spin current from GdFeCo. This material platform opens new perspectives to exert "self-torques" on single magnetic layers as well as to generate spin currents from a magnetic layer., Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures plus 5 pages of sup. information

All-dielectric nanophotonics becomes a versatile tool for various optical applications, including nanothermometry and optical heating. Its general concept includes excitation of Mie resonances in nonplasmonic nanoparticles. However, the potential of resonant dielectric nanoparticles in drug delivery applications still have not been fully realized. Here, optically resonant dielectric iron oxide nanoparticles ($\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ NPs) are employed for remote rupture of microcontainers used as drug delivery platform. It is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated, that $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ NPs has several advantages in light-to-heat energy conversion comparing to previously used materials, such as noble metals and silicon, due to the broader spectral range of efficient optical heating, and in enhancement of thermally sensitive Raman signal. The $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ NPs embedded into the wall of universal drug carriers, polymer capsules, are used to experimentally determine the local temperature of the capsule rupture upon laser irradiation (170$^o$C). As a proof of principle, we successfully show the delivery and remote release of anticancer drug vincristine upon lowered laser irradiation (4.0$\times$10$^4$~W/cm$^2$) using polymer capsules modified with the $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ NPs. The biological tests were performed on two primary cell types: (i) carcinoma cells, as an example of malignant tumor, and (ii) human stem cells, as a model of healthy cells. The developed delivery system consisting of polymer capsules modified with the dielectric nanoparticles provides multifunctional platform for remote drug release and temperature detection.