Tuning Spin Hall Conductivity in GeTe by Ferroelectric Polarization.

Controlling charge‐spin current conversion by electric fields is crucial in spintronic devices, which can now be realized in diatom ferroelectric semiconductor GeTe. It is well demonstrated that ferroelectricity can change the spin texture in this compound. Herein, it is shown that the spin Hall conductivity (SHC) can be further tuned by ferroelectricity based on the density functional theory calculations. The spin texture variation driven by the electric fields is elucidated from the symmetry point of view, highlighting the interlocked spin and orbital degrees of freedom. It is observed that the origin of SHC can be attributed to the Rashba effect and the intrinsic spin–orbit coupling. The magnitude of one component of SHC σxyz can reach as large as 100 ℏ/e (Ω−1 cm−1) in the vicinity of the band edge, which is promising for engineering spintronic devices. The work on tunable spin transport properties via the ferroelectric polarization brings novel assets into the field of spintronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]