Spin current rectification in a helical magnetic system with vanishing net magnetization

Abstract

We report the phenomenon of spin current rectification in an antiferromagnetic helix, subjected to a transverse electric field, within a tight-binding framework based on Green’s function formalism. The electric field makes the site energies of the helix aperiodic in the Aunry–André–Harper (AAH) form, which breaks the symmetry among up and down spin sub-Hamiltonians. Under this condition, a finite bias drop along the helix yields different spin specific junction currents in two bias polarities, resulting in a spin current rectification. In the absence of either helicity or electric field, no such behavior is observed. Our analysis may provide a new route for getting spin current rectification through similar kinds of helical magnetic systems with vanishing net magnetization.