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Spin waves are discussed as promising information carrier for beyond complementary metal-oxide semiconductor data processing. One major challenge is guiding and steering of spin waves in a uniform film. Here, we explore the use of diffractive optics for these tasks by nanoscale real-space imaging using x-ray microscopy and careful analysis with micromagnetic simulations. We discuss the properties of the focused caustic beams that are generated by a Fresnel-type zone plate and demonstrate control and steering of the focal spot. Thus, we present a steerable and intense nanometer-sized spin-wave source. Potentially, this could be used to selectively illuminate magnonic devices like nano-oscillators.

We explore the generation of propagating dipolar spin waves by homogeneous magnetic field excitation in the proximity of the boundaries of magnetic microstructures. Domain wall motion, precessional dynamics, and propagating spin waves are directly imaged by time-resolved wide-field magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy. The aspects of spin wave generation are clarified by micromagnetic calculations matching the experimental results. The region of dipolar spin wave formation is confined to the local resonant excitation due to non-uniform internal demagnetization fields at the edges of the patterned sample. Magnetic domain walls act as a border for the propagation of plane and low damped spin waves, thus restraining the spin waves within the individual magnetic domains. The findings are of significance for the general understanding of structural and configurational magnetic boundaries for the creation, the propagation, and elimination of spin waves.

Current induced spin wave excitations in spin transfer torque nano-contacts are known as a promising way to generate exchange-dominated spin waves at the nano-scale. It has been shown that when these systems are magnetized in the film plane, broken spatial symmetry of the field around the nano-contact induced by the Oersted field opens the possibility for spin wave mode co-existence including a non-linear self-localized spin-wave bullet and a propagating mode. By means of micromagnetic simulations, here we show that in systems with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in the free layer, two propagating spin wave modes with different frequency and spatial distribution can be excited simultaneously. Our results indicate that in-plane magnetized spin transfer nano-contacts in PMA materials do not host a solitonic self-localized spin-wave bullet, which is different from previous studies for systems with in plane magnetic anisotropy. This feature renders them interesting for nano-scale magnonic waveguides and crystals since magnon transport can be configured by tuning the applied current., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

A quantum dot coupled to two electrodes with spin-dependent splitting of chemical potentials (spin bias) is proposed as a detector of an individual electron spin. Spin polarized transport properties through the quantum dot have been investigated theoretically by means of the nonequilibrium Green's function formalism. We found that the direction of current flow is dependent on the electronic spin state in quantum dot. Measuring the direction of the current flow through the devices, we can determine the direction of the electronic spin state in quantum dot. This proposed detector provides a practical and all electrical approach to detect the electronic spin state in quantum dot structure.

We study thermally induced spin resolved current in a zigzag silicene nanoribbon when the left and right leads are respectively affected by ferromagnetic (FM) and anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) exchange fields (FM/normal/AFM junction). We show that pure spin current is generated due to the leads temperature difference and the junction can work as a spin Seebeck diode. The pure spin current can be easily controlled by a perpendicular electric field and the junction, in this case, can work as a spin current switch. In addition, we study the effect of a single vacancy and show that the vacancy can slightly destroy the pure spin current property which leads to induce a weak spin polarized current. In the presence of both vacancy and electric field, current with high and tunable spin polarization can be achieved.

First-principles calculation are presented to study the influences of external electric fields on the spin polarization properties of benzene/Cu(100) system which do not contain any magnetic atom. Our simulations show that an obvious spontaneous spin polarization oscillation occurred in the benzene molecule when the electric fields are applied. The density of states (DOS), spin density distributions, charge transfer properties are also obtained. It is found that the p-d orbital coupling between the benzene molecule and the electrode leads to spin non-degeneration of the DOS near the fermi energy, so the transferred charges from the Cu atoms to the molecule will fill these spin non-degenerate coupled orbitals, and then the benzene molecule becomes spin polarized. The strength of the p-d orbital coupling as well as the transferred charges oscillated with the external electric fields, which induce spin polarization oscillation. The results are favorable for the understanding of spin polarization properties in organic/nonmagnetic metal structures.

Since its discovery, graphene has become a magnetic electronic device with its unique magnetic properties (weak spin-orbit coupling, longer spin coherence, giant magnetoresistance, and longer spin relaxation time), which make it become the ideal preparation material for spin electronic devices. On the other hand, two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) crystals with the same lattice structure as graphene but different in electronic properties. With its unique magnetic properties (semi-metallic magnetic, spin selective, spin transport), which make it has potential applications in terms of spin electronics and other applications. Especially the graphene/h-BN heterostructure, the performance is clearly different from the excellent magnetic and spin electron properties (no attenuation of the transmission characteristics, magnetic tunneling resonance, etc.), making the graphene/h-BN heterostructure becomes ideal since spin electronic materials. Here, we review graphene, h-BN, and their heterogeneous structure, their magnetic applications and spintronics in the unique performance.

The miniaturization of complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) devices becomes increasingly difficult due to fundamental limitations and the increase of leakage currents. Large research efforts are devoted to find alternative concepts that allow for a larger data-density and lower power consumption than conventional semiconductor approaches. Spin waves have been identified as a potential technology that can complement and outperform CMOS in complex logic applications, profiting from the fact that these waves enable wave computing on the nanoscale. The practical application of spin waves, however, requires the demonstration of scalable, CMOS compatible spin-wave detection schemes in material systems compatible with standard spintronics as well as semiconductor circuitry. Here, we report on the wave-vector independent detection of short-waved spin waves with wavelengths down to 150 nm by the inverse spin Hall effect in spin-wave waveguides made from ultrathin Ta/Co8Fe72B20/MgO. These findings open up...

The quality of the tunnel barrier at the ferromagnet/graphene interface plays a pivotal role in graphene spin valves by circumventing the impedance mismatch problem, decreasing interfacial spin dephasing mechanisms and decreasing spin absorption back into the ferromagnet. It is thus crucial to integrate superior tunnel barriers to enhance spin transport and spin accumulation in graphene. Here, we employ a novel tunnel barrier, strontium oxide (SrO), onto graphene to realize high quality spin transport as evidenced by room-temperature spin relaxation times exceeding a nanosecond in graphene on silicon dioxide substrates. Furthermore, the smooth and pinhole-free SrO tunnel barrier grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), which can withstand large charge injection current densities, allows us to experimentally realize large spin accumulation in graphene at room temperature. This work puts graphene on the path to achieve efficient manipulation of nanomagnet magnetization using spin currents in graphene for logic and memory applications.

Based on non-equilibrium Green's function and density functional theory, a first-principles study of the spin-polarized transport properties and magnetism of 1,3-dimethylpropynylidene molecule sandwiched in two Ag electrodes is performed. Strong spin-polarized negative differential resistance and spin filtration effect are present. We also find that the net spin moments of molecular magnet abnormally decrease driven by electric field because the molecular orbitals around Fermi level have opposite spin direction and that non-spin-polarized electrical read out of spin states for single molecular magnets is possible.

Quantum spin liquids are exotic Mott insulators that carry extraordinary spin excitations. Therefore, when doped, they are expected to afford metallic states with unconventional magnetic excitations. Here, we report experimental results which are suggestive of a doped spin liquid with anomalous metallicity in a triangular-lattice organic conductor. The spin susceptibility is nearly perfectly scaled to that of a non-doped spin liquid insulator in spite of the metallic state. Furthermore, the charge transport that is confined in the layer at high temperatures becomes sharply deconfined on cooling, coinciding with the rapid growth of spin correlations or coherence as signified by a steep decrease in spin susceptibility. The present results substantiate the desired doped spin liquid and suggest a strange metal, in which the coherence of the underlying spin liquid promotes the deconfinement of charge from the layers while preserving the non-Fermi-liquid nature., It is expected that introducing charge carriers into an exotic quantum spin liquid state may lead to an unconventional metal but there are no clear realizations of a metallic spin liquid. Here, the authors present a spin liquid candidate that also shows evidence of strange metal behavior.

Iron-based superconductivity emerges from the suppression of the long-ranged antiferromagnetic order in the parent compounds. To solve the microscopic mechanism of the superconductivity, the key issue is fully understanding about the evolution of magnetic interaction and its relationship between superconductivity. Here, we take the electron-doped iron-based superconductor BaFe2- x Ni x As2 as atypical example, and summarize the neutron scattering results on the electronic phase diagram, magnetic ordered state, low-energy spin excitations and high-energy spin fluctuations, particularly for their systematic evolution versus electron dopings and the recent progress on the spin nematicity. Firstly, we will introduce about the crystal structure and magnetic structure, detailed procedure of the single crystal growth is also presented. By focusing on the structural transition temperature ( T s) and magnetic transition temperature ( T N) near the optimal doping level, we have found both T s and T N vanish above the superconducting transition temperature ( T c) as a first order manner, due to the lattice distortion and magnetically ordered moment decrease beyond the lower limit of the instrument resolution, giving an avoid quantum critical point at the optimal doping. In addition, the magnetic order becomes incommensurate and short-ranged magnetic cluster and competes with superconducting order, suggesting strong interplay between magnetism and superconductivity. Secondly, we will discuss about the itinerant magnetism and spin resonance mode at low energy for spin dynamics. The spin resonance mode in iron pnictides is explained as the collective quasiparticle excitations from the Fermi surface nesting between the hole pocket at the Γ point and electron pocket at the M point. This requires itinerant magnetism from the electrons near Fermi surfaces, which is further confirmed by neutron scattering by discovering the longitudinal mode and line shape change of low-energy spin excitations upon doping. Thirdly, we will present the doping evolution of spin fluctuations throughout the whole phase diagram. Although the spin waves in the parent compound can be described by an effective Heisenberg mode with anisotropic exchange coupling in FeAs plane, the damping features and unexpected low total fluctuation moments reveal both local moments and itinerant electrons contribute to the magnetism. Upon Ni doping, the high energy spin fluctuations is very robust, but the low energy spin excitations are suppressed quickly to zero when cross the boundary of the overdoped superconducting regime. The analysis on the change of the magnetic coupling energy associated with the superconducting transition gives evidence that the magnetic fluctuations are strong enough to drive the condensation of the Cooper pairs. Fourthly, we will further introduce the recent progress on the spin anisotropy by polarized neutron scattering experiments, and spin nematicity measured on detwinned samples. Anisotropic spin excitations at low energy are discovered by polarized neutron scattering, which is caused by the in-plane orbital ordering and persists away up to the tetragonal paramagnetic state. Further experiments on the detwinned sample under uniaxial pressure give direct evidence of the spin nematicity shown as breaking C4 rotation symmetry spin excitations in the tetragonal phase, similar to the anisotropic resistivity and electronic nematic phase discovered in other probes. Such novel electron state in these materials suggests the iron pnictides are unconventional. Finally, we summarize the results about the magnetic phase transition and spin dynamics and discuss its physical origin. Then a possible picture about the spin driven unconventional superconductivity in these materials is proposed. Further perspectives on the research of magnetism in iron-based superconductivity are also given.

Electronic transport through a protein-like single-helical molecule is theoretically studied. By introducing an additional terminal to couple to the molecule, we construct a two-channel mesoscopic circuit, and then calculate the charge and spin currents in the two drain terminals. It is found that in one drain terminal, one pure spin current has an opportunity to appear without any accompanying charge current. Besides, the polarization direction of the spin current can be inverted. With respect to the current in the other drain, it is also found to be highly polarized, with its polarization direction different from that in the other terminal. These results suggest that the protein-like single-helical molecule is a promising candidate for building the two-channel setup in spintronics.

Quantum spin Hall system can exhibit exotic spin transport phenomena, mediated by its topological edge states. Here the concept of bending strain engineering to tune the spin transport properties of a quantum spin Hall system is demonstrated. We show that bending strain can be used to control the spin orientation of counter-propagating edge states of a quantum spin system to generate a non-zero spin current. This physics mechanism can be applied to effectively tune the spin current and pure spin current decoupled from charge current in a quantum spin Hall system by control of its bending curvature. Furthermore, the curved quantum spin Hall system can be achieved by the concept of topological nanomechanical architecture in a controllable way, as demonstrated by the material example of Bi/Cl/Si(111) nanofilm. This concept of bending strain engineering of spins via topological nanomechanical architecture affords a promising route towards the realization of topological nano-mechanospintronics., Strain engineering alters the topological properties of quantum spin Hall insulators, leading to potential applications in spintronics. Here the authors demonstrate that bending strain can be used to tune the spin transport properties and generate a non-zero spin current in curved in Bi/Cl/Si nanofilms.

In this paper, the spin wave frequency for a Co/CoPt multilayer is calculated. It is suggested that there is a low spin deviation from the equilibrium state, so a linearized Landau–Lifshitz equation is used. Using the mean field theory approach, we calculated the effect of a random crystal field on each magnetic layer which is related to the random interacting spins at the interface of two layers. When the interface of two magnetic layers is not smooth, random interactions become dominant at the interface of exchange-biased nanoparticles. Due to the defects presented at the interface of the Co/CoPt multilayer, we suggested that the interface performs like a spin glass system. In a mentioned situation, spin-glass-like spins at the interface reduce the strength of exchange coupling between the two layers and an applied external field polarizes the spins at the interface. With an increasing applied magnetic field, the spin glass regions are destroyed and interface spins align with the direction of the external field which change the strength of exchange coupling. So the strength of coupling between the two layers is dependent on the external field. For stronger external fields, random effects due to the spin glass behavior disappear. We also calculated the difference between frequencies of Stokes and anti-Stokes spin waves and their intensity ratio. Results are in good agreement with experimental data.

A phenomenological model has been proposed for tunneling electron spin resonance (ESR) of an isolated surface spin situated in a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), which explains the dependence of features (local maxima) of the tunneling current on the radio-frequency (RF) electric field and on the position of the tip with respect to the spin. A crossover of the line shape of the resonance signals, whose nature in weak and strong pumping fields corresponds to Lorentzian and Fano resonances, respectively, has been interpreted. New ESR–STM effects that are linear and nonlinear in the RF field and are promising for developing the methods of controlling spin qubits have been predicted.

We show that the charged tip of the probe microscope, which is widely used in studying the electron transport in low-dimensional systems, induces a spin current. The effect is caused by the spin–orbit interaction arising due to an electric field produced by the charged tip. The tip acts as a spin-flip scatterer giving rise to the spin polarization of the net current and the occurrence of a spin density in the system.

We study the spin current in a quantum wire subjected to magnetic fields in the presence of Rashba spin orbit interaction. For an infinite superlattice wire, we find that the spin current density is strongly affected by the nature of the sub bands. The results are presented as a function of transverse coordinate, magnetic field and Rashba spin orbit interaction strength. Our results indicate an increase of spin current density with the increase of Rashba factor. The roles of confinement strength and magnetic fields as control parameters on the spin current have been demonstrated.

In this paper, using first principle calculation and non-equilibrium Green's function, the thermally induced spin current in Hydrogen terminated Zigzag-edge Germanene Nanoribbon (ZGeNR-H) is investigated. In this model, because of the difference between the source and the drain temperature of ZGeNR device, the spin up and spin down currents flow in the opposite direction with two different threshold temperatures ( T th ). Hence, a pure spin polarized current which belongs to spin down is obtained. It is shown that, for temperatures above the threshold temperature spin down current increases with the increasing temperature up to 75 K and then decreases. But spin up current rises steadily and in the high temperature we can obtain polarized spin up current. In addition, we show an acceptable spin current around the room temperature for ZGeNR. The transmission peaks in ZGeNR which are closer to the Fermi level rather than Zigzag Graphene Nanoribbon (ZGNRS) which causes ZGeNR to have spin current at higher temperatures. Finally, it is indicated that by tuning the back gate voltage, the spin current can be completely modulated and polarized. Simulation results verify the Zigzag Germanene Nanoribbon as a promising candidate for spin caloritronics devices, which can be applied in future low power consumption technology.

This is a review of theoretical works on spin resonance in a quantum wire associated with the spin-orbit interaction. We demonstrate that the spin-orbit induced internal “magnetic field” leads to a narrow spin-flip resonance at low temperatures in the absence of an applied magnetic field. An applied dc magnetic field perpendicular to and small compared with the spin-orbit field enhances the resonance absorption by several orders of magnitude. The component of applied field parallel to the spin-orbit field separates the resonance frequencies of right and left movers and enables a linearly polarized ac electric field to produce a dynamic magnetization as well as electric and spin currents. We start with a simple model of noninteracting electrons and then consider the interaction that is not weak in 1d electron system. We show that electron spin resonance in the spin-orbit field persists in the Luttinger liquid. The interaction produces an additional singularity (cusp) in the spin-flip channel associated wit...

In recent years, spin-based electric devices, i.e., spintronics, have attracted interest in next generation electrical devices—charge flows faster and energy loss is lower. In the case of ferromagnetic material, charge may flow faster but energy loss is high due to its heating effect. The aim is to explore paramagnetic material in spintronics on the basis of spin Hall effect (SHE). This study presents the preparation and characterization of Ni-doped CeO2 by a combustion technique. The characterization was studied by powder X-ray diffraction analysis (XRDA), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), electrical impedance studies, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. VSM studies reveal Ni-doped CeO2 is paramagnetic in nature, which will open the possibility of realizing spintronics devices.

Temperature dependences of spin states and spin paramagnetic susceptibility in ellipsoidal quantum dots (QDs) containing two or three electrons are numerically simulated using ab initio calculations based on the Feynman path integral method. Limits of the thermal stability of spin states are estimated. Upon cooling, the pairing of spins of an electron pair is most intense in spherical QDs; notably, prolate QDs hinder the pairing more strongly than the oblate ones. When the spherical shape of a QD is distorted, a characteristic peak in the temperature dependence of the electron-pair magnetic susceptibility shifts to lower temperatures. A spin of the system of three electrons may either increase or decrease upon cooling, depending on the QD shape. In the case of three electrons, strong spatial anisotropy of the electron-confining field causes a relative decrease in the energy of states with large spin values.

Spin diffusion in the finite magnetic heterojunction was explored considering the spin dependent conductivity. In organic semiconductor spintronic devices, the up-spin and down-spin polarons have different density once spin injection happens from ferromagnetic electrodes into organic semiconductors. The difference results in the spin dependent conductivity. The calculations show that the spin injection efficiency is dependent on the spin dependent conductivity and the size of the layers. The spin dependent conductivity has great influence on the spin injection efficiency in the finite magnetic heterojunction, when the spin polarization of the organic semiconductors is moderate.

Development of thermoelectric energy harvesting devices has hit a stumbling block due to the intrinsically linked electrical and thermal conductivities of materials. However, this field can still be improved by employing devices that take advantage of spin-based effects. A temperature gradient can be converted to a spin-polarized current in a ferrimagnetic insulator by the spin Seebeck effect (SSE), and that spin current can be converted to an electrical voltage in a heavy metal by the Inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE). Thus, the thermal energy capture and charge production steps can be separated into two distinct regions of the thermoelectric device, allowing separate tuning of electrical and thermal conductivities. The second step of this process, spin current to electrical voltage conversion, is controlled by the strength and sign of ISHE in the metal, and platinum has become the standard for this purpose. However, here we report a better candidate, β-Tantalum, which shows a spin Seebeck voltage approximately 4 times higher than that of Pt at room temperature. The temperature dependence of spin Seebeck in YIG/β-Ta also closely follows that of YIG/Pt, consistent with magnon spin current theory. The sign of the spin Seebeck voltage in Ta found to be opposite to that of Pt, making the two materials highly complementary for fabricating spintronics-based thermoelectric modules for practical applications.

Experiments on electron transport through helical molecules have demonstrated the appearance of high spin selectivity, in spite of the rather weak spin-orbit coupling in organic compounds. Theoretical models usually rely on different mechanisms to explain these experiments, such as large spin-orbit coupling, quantum dephasing, the role of metallic contacts, or the interplay between a helicity-induced spin-orbit coupling and a strong dipole electric field. In this work we consider the coherent electron dynamics in the electric field created by the helical arrangement of dipoles of the molecule backbone, giving rise to an effective spin-orbit coupling. We calculate the spin projection onto the helical axis as a figure of merit for the assessment of the spin dynamics in a very long helical molecule. We prove that the spin projection reaches a steady state regime after a short transient. We compare its asymptotic value for different initial conditions, aiming to better understand the origin of the spin selectivity found in experiments.

We examine the collective spin-polarized density motion in an unmagnetized plasma under a high frequency electromagnetic (EM) wave modulation. Spin effect in a quantum plasma is considered for the first time at a finite temperature near the Fermi temperature with considering collisional damping. A nonlinear two-fluid spin quantum magnetohydrodynamic model is used and solved self-consistently. The nonlinear effect and the reducing g-factor enhance the spin-polarization, while the collisional damping decreases the spin polarization. Strong spin-polarization is derived and the contribution of the spin-polarized current to the EM wave is much larger than that of the classical current.

Germanium (Ge) is another group-IV semiconductor material, which recently started attracting tremendous attention in spintronics following success of silicon (Si). The crystal inversion symmetry of Si and Ge precludes the spin relaxation of conduction electrons by the Dyakonov–Perel mechanism, resulting in a long spin relaxation time. Since the proposal of the spin FET in 1990 by Datta and Das, semiconductor materials have been studied for their spin–orbit (S–O) interactions, particularly those that can be modified by an applied electric field, such as the Rashba S–O interaction, in order to create devices that utilise spin modulation and control to perform logic operations. Since then new proposals have appeared. Nowadays they include spin transistors with several different operating principles, spin-based diodes, spin-based field programmable gate arrays, dynamic spin-logic circuits, spin-only logic, spin communication and others. In this review, the focus will be made on presenting recent progress in Ge spintronics including the key advances made. The absence of Dresselhaus S–O coupling in Ge enables a longer spin diffusion length when compared to III–V semiconductor materials. Evidence of a strong Rashba S–O interaction in strained Ge quantum wells has begun to emerge. Also, the first experimental demonstration of room-temperature spin transport in Ge has recently been reported.

Spin excitation in poly(1,4-bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-oxy-piperidyl-1-oxyl)-butadiin) (poly-BIPO), a quasi-one-dimensional organic ferromagnet, was investigated based on the extended Su–Schriffer–Heeger model by considering electron hopping and the spin correlation between the main chain and side radicals. The lattice, charge density, and spin density configurations of the single spin as well as spin domain excited states of the organic ferromagnet poly-BIPO were systematically studied. The side radical spin excitation gives rise to lattice distortion, charge density localization, and a spin density defect on the main chain. A peak induced by spin excitation is predicted to appear in the density of states of the organic ferromagnet poly-BIPO based on calculations for different spin electron states. These results expand knowledge on elementary excitation in organic materials and have significant implications for the design of spintronic devices.

Spintronics is the exploitation of both the degree of freedom of electron that is spin as well as the charge, which leads to tremendous development in the field of microelectronic applications. In this paper, bimetallic Co–Ni-based spin FET device is fabricated, and its magnetoresistance behavior has been studied. While, spin current as a function of thickness of Co–Ni-based concatenable spin switch has been studied. The results obtained for spin current using simulation and experimentation show good agreement.

Zero-bias spin separation generated by homogeneous optical excitation with terahertz radiation in quantum wells is reviewed. In gyrotropic semiconductor structures spin-dependent asymmetry of electron scattering induces a pure spin current which results in a spin separation. We consider the relaxation mechanism yielding the spin current due to the energy relaxation of a heated electron gas and the excitation mechanism caused by the scattering assisted free carrier absorption. An experimental access to these phenomena provides the application of an external magnetic field converting the spin current into a measurable net electric current. We discuss microscopic and phenomenological theory of these effects, give an overview of experimental data, and address several applications.

Spintronics, also known as spin electronics, or magnetoelectronics, refers to the study of the role that electron and (less frequently) nuclear spins play in solid state physics, and a group of devices that specifically exploit both the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge. As a principal type of spintronic device, a spin-valve is a device that uses ferromagnetic electrodes to polarize and analyze the electronic spins. The electrical resistance of the device depends sensitively on the relative magnetization of its two ferromagnetic electrodes, a phenomenon referred to as Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR). Having been successfully applied in the field of data storage, GMR also shows potential for future logic devices. Organic semiconductors possess many advantages in electronic device applications. Therefore, using organic semiconductors in spintronics is very interesting and promising, in part, because of their exceptionally long spin-decoherence times. This thesis concerns itself with the scientific study of magnetic field and spin effects in organic spin valves (OSV) and organic light emitting diodes (OLED). Three projects were finished, achieving a better understanding of the transportation of charge and spin carriers inside organic films, and paving the way to enhancing the spin diffusion length and the organic magnetoresistance (OMAR) effect. Firstly, C60 films were used as the spin-transport layer of OSV devices, because of its low hyperfine coupling and high mobility, which prior work suggested to be beneficial. Subsequently we studied the spin injection and transport properties by measuring the devices’ magnetoresistance (MR) response at various biasing voltages, V, temperatures, T and different C60 film thickness. But we do not observe a significantly increased spindiffusion length compared to OSV devices based on other organic semiconductors. We propose conductivity mismatch as a likely cause of the loss of spin-valve signal with increasing C60 layer thickness.

We present how optical coherent population trapping (CPT) of the spin of localized semiconductor electrons stabilizes the surrounding nuclear spin bath via the hyperfine interaction, resulting in a state which is more ordered than the thermal equilibrium state. We find distinct control regimes for different signs of laser detuning and examine the transition from an unpolarized, narrowed state to a polarized state possessing a bistability. The narrowing of the state yields slower electron spin dephasing and self-improving CPT. Our analysis is relevant for a variety of solid state systems where hyperfine-induced dephasing is a limitation for using electron spin coherence., 7 pages, 5 figures. Includes minor corrections and improved figures 2-4

Spin currents can be carried by electrons and by magnons. Experiments now show that, in one-dimensional spin chains, spin currents can also be carried by particle-like excitations known as spinons. Quantum spin fluctuation in a low-dimensional or frustrated magnet breaks magnetic ordering while keeping spin correlation1. Such fluctuation has been a central topic in magnetism because of its relevance to high-Tc superconductivity2 and topological states3. However, utilizing such spin states has been quite difficult. In a one-dimensional spin-1/2 chain, a particle-like excitation called a spinon is known to be responsible for spin fluctuation in a paramagnetic state. Spinons behave as a Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid at low energy, and the spin system is often called a quantum spin chain4. Here we show that a quantum spin chain generates and carries spin current, which is attributed to spinon spin current. This is demonstrated by observing an anisotropic negative spin Seebeck effect5,6,7,8,9,10 along the spin chains in Sr2CuO3. The results show that spin current can flow even in an atomic channel owing to long-range spin fluctuation.

We investigate the relationship between superconductivity and spin glasses, which were observed to be coexistent in heavy fermion superconductors (HFSs). We begin by explaining the phase of spin glass using concepts of finite-sized block spin. We then introduce the phase of superconductivity in HFSs as collective Cooper pairing, that is, the pairing of block spins with net spin = 1/2, each of which is comprised of a large number of random spins that together produce a majority spin direction. The superconducting Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS)-type phonon-mediated electron-electron interaction is substituted for the BCS-type electron-electron interaction mediated by phonon-enhanced spin flips previously suggested by us. An effective charge of any value stemming from an electron attached to the flux of an electric field can be referred to as a composite charge. The distinguished difference between ours and the original BCS model is the following: (i) another BCS-type interaction, (ii) bare electrons that are substituted for block spins with net spin = 1/2 and net charge = e in the presence of electric fields, and (iii) Fermi-Dirac distributions that are replaced by a new distribution called as Brillouin distribution.

Experimental results show that the photoelectrons emitted from the gold substrate due to laser radiation, passe through DNA nanowires with spin-polarized nature. This study proposes the use of chiral DNA molecule in spintronics and information processing. To investigate the spin transfer in DNA molecules, we established a theoretical model based on a combined spin-polaronic Peyrard–Bishop–Holstein model. Accordingly, a nearly pure spin current is appeared. The simultaneous effects of the incident radiation and external magnetic field create characteristic islands corresponding to the pure spin currents, which can be predicted and detected using the multifractal dimensions spectrum. We can verify the spin Hall effect on DNA oligomers through spin–orbit coupling. As such, we can proceed to our significant purpose, which is to create a nearly pure spin current for information transfer and determine the regions of parameter values from which the maximal polarization in spin current emerges.

Lateral spin devices are an important concept in nowadays all-metallic spintronic devices. One of the key problems is to obtain large spin injection and detection efficiency. Several concepts has been envisaged, such as to use half-metallic ferromagnetic electrodes or spin-polarized interface barriers. Within this work, we address the optimization of spin devices (namely optimization of spin current density, spin current and spin accumulation) based on adjustment of the geometry (dimensions) of the lateral device, material selection of spin conductors, jointly with optimization of the interface resistance.

Electron energy loss spectroscopy has successfully established itself as the experimental method to study exchange-dominated, high-momentum spin waves in ultra-thin films. Because of insufficient energy resolution, previous studies were limited to spin waves in the high energy range and to wave vectors larger than about q|| = 0.4 A−1. In this regime, spin waves are strongly damped by decay into Stoner excitations. Furthermore, the spin wave signal of a multilayer film consists of several overlapping modes. After implementation of several technical modifications, our electron spectrometer now enables the study of spin waves with an energy resolution down to 2 meV, and thereby the discrimination of several spin wave modes in ultra-thin films as well as the study of the intrinsic width of modes down to 1 meV. Examples are presented for fcc and hcp cobalt films and discussed in terms of current theoretical models. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A method is developed for the ab initio calculation of the distance between the energy levels of different spin states of electrons, as well as the spin of mixed quantum states subjected to thermal fluctuations. It is shown that theoretical investigations in the path integral representation can be carried out not only for mixed states, but also for pure quantum states. The approach proposed by us is free of the one-electron approximation and takes into account all spatial correlations between electrons. Demonstration computer calculations using the Monte Carlo method are carried out for the spin states of electrons in model ellipsoidal quantum dots. The inversion of levels corresponding to high and low spin states is detected in a system of three electrons. The calculations show that it is possible in principle to obtain spin states with arbitrarily close energies by varying the shape of a quantum dot. This fact is of fundamental importance for the prospects of constructing a new generation of storage and computing devices based on the spin qubits.

In spintronics, identifying an effective technique for generating spin-polarized current has fundamental importance. The spin-filtering effect across a ferromagnetic insulating layer originates from unequal tunneling barrier heights for spin-up and spin-down electrons, which has shown great promise for use in different ferromagnetic materials. However, the low spin-filtering efficiency in some materials can be ascribed partially to the difficulty in fabricating high-quality thin film with high Curie temperature and/or partially to the improper model used to extract the spin-filtering efficiency. In this work, a new technique is successfully developed to fabricate high quality, ferrimagnetic insulating γ-Fe2O3 films as spin filter. To extract the spin-filtering effect of γ-Fe2O3 films more accurately, a new model is proposed based on Fowler–Nordheim tunneling and Zeeman effect to obtain the spin polarization of the tunneling currents. Spin polarization of the tunneled current can be as high as −94.3% at 2 K in γ-Fe2O3 layer with 6.5 nm thick, and the spin polarization decays monotonically with temperature. Although the spin-filter effect is not very high at room temperature, this work demonstrates that spinel ferrites are very promising materials for spin injection into semiconductors at low temperature, which is important for development of novel spintronics devices.

Inefficient screening of electric fields in nanoconductors makes electric manipulation of electronic transport in nanodevices possible. Accordingly, electrostatic (charge) gating is routinely used to affect and control the Coulomb electrostatics and quantum interference in modern nanodevices. Besides their charge, another (quantum mechanical) property of electrons—their spin—is at the heart of modern spintronics, a term implying that a number of magnetic and electrical properties of small systems are simultaneously harvested for device applications. In this review the possibility to achieve “spin-gating” of mesoscopic devices, i.e. the possibility of an external spin control of the electronic properties of nanodevices is discussed. Rather than the Coulomb interaction, which is responsible for electric-charge gating, we consider two other mechanisms for spin gating. These are on the one hand the magnetic exchange interaction in magnetic devices and on the other hand the spin–orbit coupling (“Rashba effect”), which is prominent in low dimensional conductors. A number of different phenomena demonstrating the spin gating phenomenon will be discussed, including the spintro-mechanics of magnetic shuttling, Rashba spin splitting, and spin-gated weak superconductivity.

Based on a novel magnetic nanostructure with zero average magnetic field, a spin spatial splitter was recently proposed. This paper reports on how to effectively manipulate this device using a transverse electrical field with an applied bias. With the help of the stationary phase method, the lateral displacement and its spin polarization are calculated for the electron across this device. Both magnitude and sign of spin polarization are found to vary sensitively with this applied electric field. Thus, this device can be controlled conveniently by electric means, and can consequently serve as an electrically-tunable spin spatial splitter for spintronics applications.

Spin-dependent electron temperature effect on the spin pump in a single quantum dot connected to Normal and/or Ferromagnetic leads are investigated with the help of master equation method. Results show that spin heat accumulation breaks the tunneling rates balance at the thermal equilibrium state thus the charge current and the spin current are affected to some extent. Pure spin current can be obtained by adjusting pumping intensity or chemical potential of the lead. Spin heat accumulation of certain material can be detected by measuring the charge current strength in symmetric leads architectures. In practical devices, spin-dependent electron temperature effect is quite significant and our results should be useful in quantum information processing and spin Caloritronics.

Many (>40) nonlocal spin valves on the same substrate have been characterized at 6 K and 295 K by using a probe station. Low-resistance oxide junctions (0.2–0.8 Ω) are used to inject spin current into mesoscopic Cu channels. Spin signals exceeding 10 mΩ at 6 K have been consistently observed, indicating efficient spin injection and detection. However, complex switching behavior and possible variations between devices pose a challenge to using a standard fitting method to quantify the spin signals. Two methods are used for quantitative analysis. The range of the effective spin polarizations can be estimated by assuming a reasonable range for the Cu spin diffusion lengths. A nonlocal spin polarization is introduced to evaluate the spin current in the Cu channels.

Further development of the field of all-electric spintronics requires the successful integration of spin transport channels with spin injector/generator elements. While with the advent of graphene and related 2D materials high performance spin channel materials are available, the use of nanostructured spin generators remains a major challenge. Especially promising for the latter purpose are 3D topological insulators, whose 2D surface states host massless Dirac Fermions with spin-momentum locking. Here, we demonstrate injection of spin-polarized current from a topological insulator into graphene, enabled by its intimate coupling to an ultrathin Bi2Te2Se nanoplatelet within a van der Waals epitaxial heterostructure. The spin switching signal, whose magnitude scales inversely with temperature, is detectable up to similar to 15 K. Our findings establish topological insulators as prospective future components of spintronic devices wherein spin manipulation is achieved by purely electrical means.

In order to achieve a controllable spin-polarized source, we have applied a transverse electric field to a spin filter based on a novel magnetic nanostructure with zero average magnetic field. We have analytically calculated the transmission coefficient, conductance and spin polarization for electrons to transit the device in the presence of a transverse electric field. The results demonstrate that the transmission, the conductance and the spin polarization vary sensitively with the electric field. It is shown that the performance of the spin filter can be manipulated expediently by adjusting the transverse electric field. Thus, the spin filter can be utilized as an electrically controllable spin-polarized source for spintronics applications.

Spin circuits with four component voltages and currents have been developed and used in the past to analyze various structures, which include non-collinear ferromagnets. Recent demonstrations of large spin orbit torques in heavy metals like Pt, Ta, and W open up new possibilities in spintronic applications by providing an alternative way to write information into a magnet. Here, we extend the four component (one charge and three spins) conductance matrix to include materials with spin Hall effect based on the standard diffusion equation. Our proposed spin circuit successfully reproduces standard results like spin Hall effect (SHE), inverse spin Hall effect, and spin Hall magnetoresistance. This circuit representation also makes it straightforward to analyze new configurations. We present two examples, namely, 1) the possibility of spin injection using giant SHE (GSHE) materials into semiconductors without tunneling barriers, and 2) the effect of spin ground on one surface to enhance spin current injection from the opposite surface in a thin GSHE sample. Finally, we provide an elemental conductance matrix for a small cubic structure which can be used as a building block to analyze any arbitrarily shaped GSHE material.

The relationship between spin state and conductivity is studied for a thiophene-functionalized iron(III)-bis(dicarbollide) with one or two thiophenes at each end of the cage. Iron has a high ground state spin that can be adjusted by external electromagnetic fields to produce different magnetic states. The hypothesis explored here is that changes in the spin state of these Fe-containing molecules can lead to significant changes in molecular conductivity. Two examples of the possible application of such spin-dependent conductivity are its use as a molecular switch, the basic building block in digital logic, or as a memory bit. The molecules were first optimized using the Becke-3 Lee–Yang–Parr functional (B3LYP) with the 6-31G(d) basis set. A relaxed molecular geometry at each spin state was then placed between gold electrodes to conduct spin-polarized electron transport calculations with the density functional theory/non-equilibrium Green’s functions formalism. The revised Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhf solids exchange–correlation functional (PBES) with double zeta polarized basis set was used. The result of these calculations show that the conductivity increases with the spin state. The cage structure is shown to exhibit fully delocalized molecular orbitals (MOs) appropriate for high conductivity and thus, in this system, the conductivity depends on the position of the MOs relative to the Fermi level. Minority spins are responsible for the conductivity of the doublet spin state while majority spins dominate for the quartet and sextet spin states as they are found closer to the Fermi level when they are occupied. Energy calculations predict a difference in energy between the more and the less conductive spin states (sextet and doublet respectively) that is 15–20 times greater than the thermal energy, which would imply stability at room temperature; however, the energy difference is sufficiently small that transitions between spin states can be induced.

Mesoscopic smart materials like Dilute Magnetic Semiconductors (DMS) and Quantum Dots (QD) have squeezed electrons and holes in a size of the Bohr excitonic radius. Different synthesis procedures create vacancies and other defects that impart special spin based properties in crystallites of nanometric size to make them proper for new spin controlled functionalities. The Potential field of a new electronics is based on a coherent transport of electron spin. Traditional Electronics relies only on the charge and its transport, completely ignoring the electron spin. The spin of electron provides us an unprecedented chance and new starting point to explore the future of modern semiconductor and information industry. It needs materials as a source of spin-polarized carriers or electron spins to form a spin current. Coherent transport of moving electron spin tunneling through the interfaces and long spin coherence time of carriers implement the desirable operations. The mechanisms which break the conservation of a spin current include magnetic impurities scattering, spin-orbit coupling, and nuclear spin. Consequently, a spin current cannot be transported for a long distance. The metallic spin- device has made significant progress. Spin injection in a diluted magnetic semiconductor has been enhanced significantly. Exploiting the subtle quantum property of the electrons to develop a new generation of electronic devices needs the motivation, understanding physical fundamentals, and recent experimental progress which forms the essence of this review.

We theoretically investigate spin transport in a novel magnetic nanostructure with zero average magnetic field, which can be experimentally realized by depositing three ferromagnetic stripes with a vertical magnetization on top and bottom of a semiconductor heterostructure. It is shown that, the electronic transmission is spin dependent, though the magnetic field is averagely vanishing, i.e., this device shows an obvious spin polarization effect. It is also shown that the degree of spin polarization depends on the incident energy and the incident direction of the electron. Therefore, such a magnetic nanostructure may be used as a spin filter for spintronics applications.

The electron spin properties of semiconductors are of immense interest for their potential in spin-driven applications. Silicon is a perfect material for spintronics due to a long spin lifetime. Understanding the peculiarities of the subband structure and details of spin propagation in thin silicon films in the presence of the spin-orbit interaction is under scrutiny. We have performed simulations to obtain the surface roughness limited, acoustic-and optical-phonon mediated spin relaxation time, when the film is under shear strain. The degeneracy between the non-equivalent valleys is lifted by strain, which in turn subdues the dominating inter-valley relaxation components and increases the spin lifetime. We also elaborate on the injection orientation sensitive spin relaxation model and predict that the spin relaxation time is maximum, when the spin is injected in-plane, relative to the (001) oriented silicon film.