Current-induced switching of photonic spin Hall effect in a magnetic insulator based on spin–orbit torques

Abstract

The photonic spin Hall effect (PSHE) is analogous to the electronic spin Hall effect, which has substantial potential for optoelectronic applications. However, PSHE-based devices are rarely studied, and manipulating the PSHE by charge current has remained elusive thus far. In this paper, we demonstrate current-induced switching of PSHE in the Ce1Dy2Al0.42Fe4.58O12 thin film capping with Pt electrodes, which is mediated by spin–orbit torques at the Pt/Ce1Dy2Al0.42Fe4.58O12 interface. The results show that the transverse beam shifts related to the PSHE can be reversed by applying a small order of magnitude charge current (∼108 A·m−2) to the Pt layer in opposite directions, which predicts low dissipation in our proposed heterostructure. In addition, by applying an in-plane magnetic field, the saturation beam shifts can be increased, which can significantly enhance the switching ratio.