自旋电子学研究的最新进展

自旋极化电子的高效注入、自旋霍尔效应和自旋流的产生与探测都是目前自旋电子学中热门研究专题,世界一些著名学术刊物屡见报道。对这些重要内容的理论和实验的最新研究成果进行了介绍。通过自旋极化电子高效注入方法和材料的研究,人们期望研制出新一代自旋电子器件,进而实现应用电子自旋传输、记录和存储信息的目标。近期实验给出,自旋极化电子从铁磁金属注入半导体和金属都获得较高的极化率。各种注入方法中,自旋流直接注入法目前备受关注,因为自旋霍尔效应为自旋流的产生与探测提供了新的途径,即自旋霍尔效应可以产生自旋流,但因无霍尔电压故不容易测量;而逆自旋霍尔效应又将自旋流转化为电流,使得难以测量的自旋流又可以直接用电学方法测量。     

光致规范场下的冷原子及自旋量子霍尔效应

讨论了冷原子与激光场的互作用系统,对于碱金属原子例如6Li与激光场互作用系统,通过恰当的光场参数配置,构造出具二重兼并的能量本征态,可以分别定义两个简并态为自旋向上及自旋向下态,类似于自旋二分量体系,进一步研究发现,不同自旋态将感受到自旋相关的光致规范场.当原子在设定的空间分布激光场中运动时,其所感受到的有效自旋相关规范场将导致自旋霍尔效应,并产生可观测的自旋霍尔流.     

具有Stubs结构量子波导中电子的自旋传输特性

利用递归格林函数法研究了含Rashba自旋轨道耦合效应的具有Stubs结构的量子波导中电子的自旋极化传输特性.结果表明在含一个stub的量子波导系统中, 由于stub和Rashba自旋轨道耦合引起的势阱导致系统电导出现Fano共振形式的“山谷”和“针尖”结构, 通过改变自旋轨道耦合的强度可以调节它们的大小. 同时,在同样的位置自旋极化率也出现Fano共振或反共振结构. 当系统中出现多个周期性的stubs时, 在Fano共振点附近电导中出现一些小的带隙结构.但是,当系统加上磁场后, stubs和自旋轨道耦合带来的效应都被抑制, 系统的电导重新出现量子化台阶结构. 同时由于子带间干涉效应变小, 自旋电导也出现台阶结构.     

量子点接触中的自旋过滤特性

利用可调节自旋过滤器模型,首次计算并讨论了磁场和电子跃迁能量间隔变化对量子点接触结构中自旋电子过滤特性的影响。研究发现,磁场和电子跃迁能量间隔的变化引起了自旋电子隧穿概率和隧穿电导都呈现出量子台阶效应,磁场的增加使电子的回旋频率和电子的Zeeman能级分裂同时加强,从而导致量子点接触结构中的横向约束加强,而自旋过滤效应明显减弱;当磁场一定时,电子跃迁能量间隔越小,电子的自旋过滤效应越明显。电子跃迁能量间隔改变的同时,也改变了鞍形势的势垒形状和自旋过滤的灵敏度。对于不同的材料,同时考虑磁场和电子跃迁能量间隔的作用可以找到自旋过滤器的最佳过滤效果。尤为重要的是过滤器的结构可以用标准的电子束技术很容易得到,所以研究结论为设计新型自旋过滤器提供了理论依据,具有广阔的应用前景和潜在的商业价值。此外,使用朗道因子值较高的材料作自旋过滤器的衬底,可以进一步提高过滤器的性能。     

半导体材料中自旋极化的光学注入与探测

综述了自旋电子学的一些新进展,重点介绍了自旋极化的光学注入、弛豫机制和光学探测等方面的内容,并涉及到与自旋有关的自旋霍尔效应(SHE)和纯自旋流等物理效应.     

纳米尺寸自旋阀中电流驱动的自旋波发射

提出了在纳米赝自旋阀中的电流感应自旋传输矩的磁动力学描述,成功地解释了在磁纳米多层结构中的电流驱动微波发射和电流感应磁化翻转现象。自旋流极化由在电导匹配时的自旋流和化学势连续性边界条件决定。自旋矩的纵向和横向分量在自旋阀的电流驱动微波发射和电流感应磁化翻转现象中扮演了不同的角色:纵向自旋矩分量决定了电流感应磁化翻转(CIMS)效应,而横向自旋矩是自旋波发射(SWE)效应所不可缺少的。根据这一理论,由LLG方程自然得到自旋波发射的双模,分别为横向自旋矩引发的X和Y方向的振动,并引起磁多层电阻以频率2w或w(进动频率)随时间变化。磁场和自旋流共同决定了自旋波发射的频率和功率,这一理论预言了某种特殊的磁多层结构,如磁层相互垂直的结构,将具有大得多的微波发射效率,这一结论已经被实验所证实。     

基于自旋电子学的太赫兹波产生方法

自旋电子学的某些物理现象,如交换型磁振子、反铁磁共振、超快自旋动力学等,其特征频率刚好处于太赫兹频段。利用相应的自旋电子学现象和原理,研究人员发现和建立了若干新型的太赫兹波产生方法,为新型太赫兹源的实现和发展提供指导方向。这些新型产生方法有:a)自旋注入产生太赫兹波;b)基于反铁磁共振的太赫兹波产生;c)基于超快自旋动力学的太赫兹波产生。理论及实验结果表明,基于自旋电子学的太赫兹产生方法具有较大的潜力,有望推动太赫兹技术的发展。     

基于超快电子自旋动力学的太赫兹辐射研究进展

回顾了近年来利用超快自旋动力学过程产生太赫兹(THz)辐射的研究进展。介绍了基于逆自旋霍尔效应和逆Rashba-Edelstein效应的瞬态自旋流-电荷流转换,指出铁磁/非磁性异质结构已被用于设计低成本、高效率的THz辐射源。通过优化膜厚、生长条件、衬底和结构,可进一步提高基于自旋电子学的THz发射器的效率和带宽。简述了THz发射光谱在研究超快自旋泽贝克效应形成动力学中的应用。     

含Rashba自旋轨道耦合二维电子气结构中电子反常位移及自旋分离

研究了含Rashba自旋轨道耦合的磁电调制半导体二维电子气中弹道电子的反常位移 （Goos-H?nchen位移,即GH位移）。计算中发现,通过调节结构的各个参数包括入射角、磁场强度和Rashba自旋轨道耦合系数,可以有效地调控GH位移,并且在一定条件下可以为负。电子的GH位移和自旋极化态有密切关系,这个自旋相关的位移可以用来分离不同自旋极化的电子束。基于这种现象,提出了一种利用GH位移在半导体2DEG中分离不同自旋极化电子的方法。     

应用RCS序列估计卫星自旋周期

针对空间探测任务中采用雷达散射截面积(RCS)序列估计卫星旋转周期存在的问题,建立了基于多频段RCS的卫星自旋周期估计分析模型.根据卫星的外推弹道,计算了卫星的可跟踪弧段,推导了自旋模式下卫星本体坐标系下电磁波入射角的计算公式.采用电磁场数值算法快速计算卫星的RCS,通过RCS匹配获得卫星可跟踪弧段的理论RCS序列,研究了自旋周期在RCS序列中的表现形式.仿真分析了雷达频段、采样率及弧段选择对周期估计的影响,结果表明入射角序列相对于垂直于卫星自旋轴方向变化平稳的弧段,RCS序列呈现的周期性特征显著,利用该类弧段进行卫星自旋周期估计可以得到准确的结果,证明该方法可以应用于卫星自旋周期估计.     

Enhancement of Spin–Orbit Torque by Strain Engineering in SrRuO3 Films

Complex oxides with 4d/5d transition metal ions, e.g., SrRuO₃, usually possess strong spin–orbit coupling, which potentially leads to efficient charge-spin interconversion. As the electrical transport property of SrRuO₃ can be readily tuned via structure control, it serves as a platform for studying the manipulation of charge-spin interconversion. Here, a factor of twenty enhancement of spin–orbit torque (SOT) efficiency via strain engineering in a SrRuO₃/Ni₈₁Fe₁₉ bilayer is reported. The results show that an orthorhombic SrRuO₃ leads to a higher SOT efficiency than the tetragonal one. By changing the strain from compressive to tensile in the orthorhombic SrRuO₃, the SOT efficiency can be increased from an average value of 0.04 to 0.89, corresponding to a change of spin Hall conductivity from 27 to 441 × ħ/e (S cm⁻¹). The first-principles calculations show that the intrinsic Berry curvature can give rise to a large spin Hall conductivity (SHC) via the strain control, which is consistent with the experimental observations. The results provide a route to further enhance the SOT efficiency in complex oxide-based heterostructures, which will potentially promote the application of complex oxides in energy-efficient spintronic devices.     

Observation of Colossal Topological Hall Effect in Noncoplanar Ferromagnet Cr5Te6 Thin Films (Adv. Funct. Mater. 33/2023)

The topological Hall effect (THE) is critical to the exploration of the spin chirality generated by the real-space Berry curvature, which has attracted worldwide attention for its prospective applications in spintronic devices. However, the prominent THE remains elusive at room temperature, which severely restricts the practical integration of chiral spin textures. Here, a colossal intrinsic THE is showed up to ≈1.6 µΩ cm in large-area ferromagnet Cr₅Te₆ thin films epitaxially grown by pulsed laser deposition. Such a THE can be maintained until 270 K, which is attributed to the field-stimulated noncoplanar spin textures induced by the interaction of the in-plane ferromagnet and antiferromagnet infrastructures. The first-principles calculations further verify the considerable Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in Cr₅Te₆. This work not only paves the way for robust chiral spin textures near room temperature in large-area low-dimensional ferromagnetic films for practical applications, but also facilitates the development of high-density and dissipationless spintronic devices.     

Spin Filtering through Single‐Wall Carbon Nanotubes Functionalized with Single‐Stranded DNA

High spin polarization materials or spin filters are key components in spintronics, a niche subfield of electronics where carrier spins play a functional role. Carrier transmission through these materials is “spin selective,” that is, these materials are able to discriminate between “up” and “down” spins. Common spin filters include transition metal ferromagnets and their alloys, with typical spin selectivity (or, polarization) of ≈50% or less. Here carrier transport is considered in an archetypical one‐dimensional molecular hybrid in which a single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is wrapped around by single stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (ssDNA). By magnetoresistance measurements it is shown that this system can act as a spin filter with maximum spin polarization approaching ≈74% at low temperatures, significantly larger than transition metals under comparable conditions. Inversion asymmetric helicoidal potential of the charged ssDNA backbone induces a Rashba spin‐orbit interaction in the SWCNT channel and polarizes carrier spins. The results are consistent with recent theoretical work that predicted spin dependent conductance in ssDNA‐SWCNT hybrid. Ability to generate highly spin polarized carriers using molecular functionalization can lead to magnet‐less and contact‐less spintronic devices in the future. This can eliminate the conductivity mismatch problem and open new directions for research in organic spintronics.     

Magnetic flux assisted thermospin transport in a Rashba ring

The electron transport through a Rashba ring with a magnetic flux and driven by a temperature difference is investigated. It is found that the spin interference effect induced by the Rashba spin-orbit interaction and by the magnetic flux can break the balance between the spin-up and spin-down component currents in the thermally driven charge current and thus result in a spin current. The analytical derivation and numerical calculations reveal that the magnitude, sign, peaks and spin-polarization of the generated spin current can be readily modulated by the system parameters. In particular, with some choices of the parameters, the spin polarization of the generated spin current can reach 100%, that is, a fully spin-polarized thermospin current can be produced. These results may help the use of the spin-dependent Seebeck effect to generate and manipulate a spin current.     

Ballistic Spin Hall Transistor Using a Heterostructure Channel and Its Application to Logic Devices

In a ballistic spin transport channel, spin Hall and Rashba effects are utilized to provide a gate-controlled spin Hall transistor. A ferromagnetic electrode and a spin Hall probe are employed for spin injection and detection, respectively, in a two-dimensional Rashba system. We utilize the spin current of which polarization direction is controlled by the gate electric field which determines the strength of the Rashba effective field. By observing the spin Hall voltage, spin injection and coherent spin precession are electrically monitored. From the original Datta–Das technique, we measure the channel conductance oscillation as the gate voltage is varied. When the magnetization orientation of the injector is reversed by 180°, the phase of the Datta–Das oscillation shifts by 180° as expected. Depending on the magnetization direction, the spin Hall transistor behaves as an n- or p-type transistor. Thus, we can implement the complementary transistors which are analogous to the conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor transistors. Using the experimental data extracted from the spin Hall transistor, the logic operation is also presented.     

Exceptional Spin-to-Charge Conversion in Selective Band Topology of Bi/Bi1-xSbx with Spintronic Singularity

In this study, spin-to-charge conversion (SCC) of various topological materials with ferromagnet is investigated using spintronic terahertz (THz) emission spectroscopy. Compared with other topological materials, significantly large THz emission is observed for topologically nontrivial phases of Bi_1-xSb_x (x > 0.2) that predominantly originates from the topological surface state. When Bi is superposed above a certain stoichiometry of Bi_1-xSb_x, it plays a crucial role in generating a highly spin-split state and enhancing the spin-mixing conductance, resulting in colossal THz emission. This proves that improving the SCC efficiency through interface engineering is a useful strategy to design a powerful spintronic device. Collectively, this study proposes a methodology for systematically analyzing SCC efficiency or spin Hall angle using THz emission spectroscopy and offers an efficient structure for future spintronic devices.     

半导体自旋电子学的研究与应用进展

自旋电子学是一门最新发展起来的涉及磁学、电子学以及信息学的交叉学科.自旋电子器件与普通半导体电子器件相比具有不挥发、低功耗和高集成度等优点.本文介绍了半导体自旋电子学的研究对象和内容,主要包括磁性半导体、自旋注入、自旋探测以及自旋输运等.本文综述了半导体自旋电子学目前的研究进展及其在自旋电子器件和量子信息处理中的应用.     

Nonvolatile Ferroelectric Memory Effect in Ultrathin α‐In2Se3

High‐density memory is integral in solid‐state electronics. 2D ferroelectrics offer a new platform for developing ultrathin electronic devices with nonvolatile functionality. Recent experiments on layered α‐In₂Se₃ confirm its room‐temperature out‐of‐plane ferroelectricity under ambient conditions. Here, a nonvolatile memory effect in a hybrid 2D ferroelectric field‐effect transistor (FeFET) made of ultrathin α‐In₂Se₃ and graphene is demonstrated. The resistance of the graphene channel in the FeFET is effectively controllable and retentive due to the electrostatic doping, which stems from the electric polarization of the ferroelectric α‐In₂Se₃. The electronic logic bit can be represented and stored with different orientations of electric dipoles in the top‐gate ferroelectric. The 2D FeFET can be randomly rewritten over more than 10⁵ cycles without losing the nonvolatility. The approach demonstrates a prototype of rewritable nonvolatile memory with ferroelectricity in van der Waals 2D materials.     

Al_xGa_(1-x)N/GaN异质结构中二维电子气的自旋性质

Ⅲ族氮化物材料有很长的电子自旋弛豫时间以及很高的居里温度,成为近年来半导体自旋电子学研究的重要材料体系之一。介绍了目前两种最主要的研究AlxGa1-xN/GaN异质结构中二维电子气(2DEG)自旋性质的物理效应:磁电阻的舒伯尼科夫-德哈斯拍频振荡和弱反局域效应,回顾了AlxGa1-xN/GaN异质结构中2DEG自旋性质的研究进展。AlxGa1-xN/GaN异质结构材料中有很强的极化电场,诱导产生很高浓度的2DEG,能够产生相当大能量的自旋分裂,并且这种自旋分裂可以被栅压所调控,因此在自旋场效应晶体管方面有很好的应用前景。然而要实现GaN基自旋电子学器件的应用,GaN中自旋注入效率是目前所面临的问题。     

Highly Efficient 1D/3D Ferroelectric Perovskite Solar Cell

With the capability to manipulate the built-in field in solar cells, ferroelectricity is found to be a promising attribute for harvesting solar energy in solar cell devices by influencing associated device parameters. Researchers have devoted themselves to the exploration of ferroelectric materials that simultaneously possess strong light absorption and good electric transport properties for a long time. Here, it is presented a novel and facile approach of combining state-of-art light absorption and electric transport properties with ferroelectricity by the incorporation of room temperature 1D ferroelectric perovskite with 3D organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite (OIHP). The 1D/3D mixed OIHP films are found to exhibit evident ferroelectric properties. It is notable that the poling of the 1D/3D mixed ferroelectric OIHP solar cell can increase the average V_oc can be increased from 1.13 to 1.16 V, the average PCE from 20.7% to 21.5%. A maximum power conversion efficiency of 22.7%, along with an enhanced fill factor of over 80% and open-circuit voltage of 1.19 V, can be achieved in the champion device. The enhancement is by virtue of reduced surface recombination by ferroelectricity-induced modification of the built-in field. The maximum power point tracking measurement substantiates the retention of ferroelectric-polarization during the continued operation.