Spin Control and Multifunctional Photocurrent Switch in Chiral Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskites

Abstract

Chiral-induced spin selectivity effect provides a new strategy for manipulating electron spin, which has potential applications in various spin-related fields. Here, the spin-selective electronic transport and photocurrent response of (R,S-MBA)2PbI4 are investigated systematically by first-principles calculations. The minimum periodic chiral hybrid system has stable spin filtering ability. Different from achiral magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), the resistance of chiral MTJs depends on the chirality of (R,S-MBA)2PbI4 and magnetization arrangement of ferromagnetic electrodes. Additionally, the photon energy and magnetization arrangement of electrodes can be used to switch the spin channel and photocurrent direction. At a photon energy of 3.0 eV, chiral MTJs can transfer from separating spin into outputting highly spin-polarized photocurrent by changing the magnetization arrangement of electrodes. Chiral spin control and multifunctional photocurrent switch of Fe/(R,S-MBA)2PbI4/Fe MTJs provide important information for the design of chiral spintronic and nanoscale electronic devices.