Abstract
Controlling magnetism through non-magnetic means is highly desirable for future electronic devices, as such means typically have ultra-low power requirements and can provide coherent control. In recent years, great experimental progress has been made in the field of electrical manipulation of magnetism in numerous material systems. These studies generally do not consider the directionality of the applied non-magnetic potentials and/or magnetism switching. Here, we theoretically conceive and experimentally demonstrate a non-magnetic one-way spin switch device using a spin-orbit coupled Bose–Einstein condensate subjected to a moving spin-independent repulsive dipole potential. The physical foundation of this unidirectional device is based on the breakdown of Galilean invariance in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. Such a one-way spin switch opens an avenue for designing quantum devices with unique functionalities and may facilitate further experimental investigations of other one-way spintronic and atomtronic devices.
Highlights
Controlling magnetism through non-magnetic means is highly desirable for future electronic devices, as such means typically have ultra-low power requirements and can provide coherent control
The ability to coherently control and switch the magnetism in a system plays a central role for building next-generation electronic devices including, for example, magnetic memories and integrated circuits that rely on nonvolatile information encoded in the direction of magnetization
The past decade has witnessed a remarkable development in the field of spin-transfer torque (STT)-based spintronic devices[3], switching the magnetism through nonmagnetic means, such as electric fields, continues to be of high interest to significantly reduce the required switching power[4]
Summary
Controlling magnetism through non-magnetic means is highly desirable for future electronic devices, as such means typically have ultra-low power requirements and can provide coherent control. Great experimental progress has been made in the field of electrical manipulation of magnetism in numerous material systems These studies generally do not consider the directionality of the applied non-magnetic potentials and/or magnetism switching. The physical foundation of this unidirectional device is based on the breakdown of Galilean invariance in the presence of spin-orbit coupling Such a one-way spin switch opens an avenue for designing quantum devices with unique functionalities and may facilitate further experimental investigations of other one-way spintronic and atomtronic devices. When a nonmagnetic control pulse interacts from the left (right), the spin orientation can be switched only from ↑ to ↓ (↓ to ↑), while the reversed process is forbidden Such a unique unidirectionality of a spin switch may greatly enhance our ability to manipulate magnetism for designing and engineering future spintronic devices. The breakdown of Galilean invariance has recently been experimentally observed in a SO-coupled Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) in an optical lattice[35]
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