Enhanced spin polarization in graphene with spin energy gap induced by spin-orbit coupling and strain

Abstract

We investigate the possibility of spin polarization in graphene. The result shows that a spin energy gap can be opened in the presence of both spin-orbit coupling and strain. We find that high spin polarization with large spin-polarized current is achieved in the spin energy gap. However, only one of the two modulations is present, no spin polarization can be generated. So the combination of the two modulations provides a way to design tunable spin polarization without need for a magnetic element or an external magnetic field.