Spin-valley caloritronics in silicene near room temperature

Abstract

Two-dimensional silicene, with an observable intrinsic spin-orbit coupling, has a great potential to perform fascinating physics and new types of applications in spintronics and valleytronics. By introducing an electromotive force from a temperature difference in ferromagnetic silicene, we discover that a longitudinal spin Seebeck effect can be driven even near room temperature, with spin-up and spin-down currents flowing in opposite directions, originating from the asymmetric electron-hole spin band structures. We further propose a silicene field-effect transistor constructed of two ferromagnetic electrodes and a central dual-gated region, and find that a valley Seebeck effect appears, with currents from two different valleys flowing in opposite directions. The forbidden transport channels are determined by either spin-valley dependent band gaps or spin mismatch. By tuning the electric field in the central region, the transport gaps depending on spin and valley vary correspondingly, and a transition from valley Seebeck effect to spin Seebeck effect is observed. These spin-valley caloritronic results near room temperature are robust against many real perturbations, and thus suggest silicene to be an excellent candidate for future energy-saving technologies and bidirectional information processing in solid-state circuits.