1. Intrinsic Dynamic Generation of Spin Polarization by Time-Varying Electric Field
- Author
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Feng, Xukun, Cao, Jin, Zhang, Zhi-Fan, Ang, Lay Kee, Lai, Shen, Jiang, Hua, Xiao, Cong, and Yang, Shengyuan A.
- Subjects
Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics - Abstract
Electric control of spin in insulators is desired for low-consumption and ultrafast spintronics, but the underlying mechanism remains largely unexplored. Here, we propose an intrinsic effect of dynamic spin generation driven by time-varying electric field. In the intraband response regime, it can be nicely formulated as a Berry curvature effect and leads to two phenomena that are forbidden in the $dc$ limit: linear spin generation in nonmagnetic insulators and intrinsic N{\'e}el spin-orbit torque in $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric antiferromagnetic insulators. These phenomena are driven by the time derivative of field rather than the field itself, and have a quantum origin in the first-order dynamic anomalous spin polarizability. Combined with first-principles calculations, we predict sizable effects driven by terahertz field in nonmagnetic monolayer Bi and in antiferromagnetic even-layer MnBi$_2$Te$_4$, which can be detected in experiment.
- Published
- 2024