Direction Of Spin Polarization Research Articles

Electrostatic doping tunable magnetic transition and half-metallicity in the monolayer CrCTe3

The electrical manipulation of the magnetic transition and spin-polarized states has attracted extensive attention in the field of spintronics. In this work, we perform a detailed study on the electronic and magnetic properties of the carrier-doped monolayer CrCTe3 by using first-principles calculation. It is found that, the magnetic transition from Néel-antiferomagnetic (nAFM) to ferromagnetic (FM) is observed in the case of the electron doping, while for hole doping a magnetic transition sequence of nAFM → zigzag-AFM → FM is observed in the monolayer CrCTe3. Interestingly, the carrier doping induced FM ground state always exhibits half-metallicity with full spin polarization. Moreover, the spin polarity of the half-metallic electronic states is opposite for electron and hole doping, meaning that the spin polarization direction can be tuned by manipulating a gate voltage. The Monte Carlo calculations show that the magnetic transition temperature of the doped FM CrCTe3 is rapidly increased with the increasing doping concentration and is extremely expected to achieve room temperature at a suitable doping concentration. These findings demonstrate that the monolayer AFM system possesses a potential application in spintronic devices with electrically tunable spin polarization.

Field-free switching of perpendicular magnetization in a noncollinear antiferromagnetic Mn3Sn/[Pt/Co]4 heterostructure

Spin-orbit torque (SOT) manipulation of perpendicular magnetization is essential for realizing spintronic storage and logic devices. When a charge current flows through a heavy metal/ferromagnetic layer structure, a spin current can be generated by the heavy metal and injects into the ferromagnetic layer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and switch its magnetization via the SOT. However, in order to realize the deterministic switching, an in-plane external magnetic field is needed to break the inversion symmetry, a technological requirement that hampers the practical application of SOT. Pt/Co multilayer is a good magnetic recording media and, thus, the all-electric manipulation of its perpendicular magnetic moments is of practical significance. The noncollinear spin structure in Mn3Sn allows an unconventional spin polarization direction, and the associated SOT can switch the magnetic moments in the absence of an external field. In this work, we demonstrate the field-free SOT switching of a heterostructure utilizing Mn3Sn and Pt/Co multilayer as the spin source and the ferromagnetic layer with perpendicular magnetization, respectively. Our results are important for advancing the development of spintronic devices based on noncollinear antiferromagnets.

Highly efficient field-free switching of perpendicular yttrium iron garnet with collinear spin current

Yttrium iron garnet, a material possessing ultralow magnetic damping and extraordinarily long magnon diffusion length, is the most widely studied magnetic insulator in spintronics and magnonics. Field-free electrical control of perpendicular yttrium iron garnet magnetization with considerable efficiency is highly desired for excellent device performance. Here, we demonstrate such an accomplishment with a collinear spin current, whose spin polarization and propagation direction are both perpendicular to the interface. Remarkably, the field-free magnetization switching is achieved not only with a heavy-metal-free material, Permalloy, but also with a higher efficiency as compared with a typical heavy metal, Pt. Combined with the direct and inverse effect measurements, we ascribe the collinear spin current to the anomalous spin Hall effect in Permalloy. Our findings provide a new insight into spin current generation in Permalloy and open an avenue in spintronic devices.

Theoretical prediction of C- and O-doped Hittorf’s violet phosphorene as bipolar magnetic semiconductor material

Hittorf’s violet phosphorene is a novel two-dimensional material with stable structure and excellent optoelectronic properties. Studying the doping effect helps to understand its physical essence and is of great significance in further developing nanoelectronic devices. In this paper, the first-principles method based on density functional theory is used to study the electromagnetic properties of the non-metallic element B-, C-, N-, and O-doped single-layer violet phosphene. The results show that there is no magnetism after having doped boron and nitrogen, and the system still behaves as a nonmagnetic semiconductor, while carbon doping and oxygen doping cause spin splitting, and the violet phosphorene transforms from a nonmagnetic semiconductor to a bipolar magnetic semiconductor, and its spin density is mainly distributed in the P atom and gap region, rather than on the impurity. The direction of spin polarization of its carrier can be reversed by adjusting the electric field of O-doped violet phosphorene. When a certain size of forward or reverse electrostatic field is applied, the band dispersion becomes stronger, and the O-doped violet phosphorene transforms into a half-metallic magnet with 100% downward or upward spin polarization at the Fermi level. The field effect spin filter based on O-doped violet phosphorene can reverse the direction of spin-polarized current by changing the direction of the gate voltage. This study shows that O-doped violet phosphorene is expected to be an ideal candidate material for two-dimensional spin field-effect transistors, bipolar magnetic spintronic devices, dual channel field effect spin filters, and field-effect spin valves.

Field‐Free Spin‐Orbit Torque Driven Perpendicular Magnetization Switching of Ferrimagnetic Layer Based on Noncollinear Antiferromagnetic Spin Source

AbstractThe utilization of novel noncollinear antiferromagnetic materials holds great promise for the development of energy‐efficient spintronic devices. However, only a few studies have reported on the all‐electrical control of perpendicular magnetization switching using noncollinear antiferromagnets as the spin source, and the underlying mechanism behind the unconventional spin‐orbit torque (SOT) is still a topic of debate. In this work, deterministic perpendicular magnetization switching in Mn3Sn/CoTb bilayers is successfully achieved. Compared to the control samples with heavy metal as the spin source, the critical switching current density is over one order of magnitude reduced, indicating an enhanced efficiency of the out‐of‐plane charge‐to‐spin conversion in the textured Mn3Sn films. The influence of film thickness and growth temperature on the efficiency of different spin polarizations suggests potential roles of crystal quality and spin texture in spin diffusion with different spin polarization directions. These findings provide valuable insights into the crystal structure, spin‐orbit torque effects, and charge‐to‐spin conversion in Mn3Sn films, highlighting the importance of understanding interface and bulk contributions in antiferromagnetic spin transport phenomena.

Tilted magnetic anisotropy-tailored spin torque nano-oscillators for neuromorphic computing

Spin torque nano-oscillators (STNOs) hold significant promise for communication and bio-inspired computing applications. However, their modulation capability is constrained by a dilemma between frequency window and linewidth reduction, particularly in hypercritical conditions like the presence of an external magnetic field. This poses a notable challenge in the practical application of STNOs. Here, we report a unique type of all-electrical compact STNOs that employ the tilted magnetic anisotropy (TMA), which can efficiently promote the linewidth Δf reduction and precisely modulate oscillation frequency ranging from 495 to 556 MHz. The developed STNOs consist of a ferromagnetic reference layer with tunable TMA, wherein the spin transfer torque along the tilted spin polarization direction elaborates a self-oscillation of magnetic moments in the free layer without application of magnetic field. The free layer equips in a magnetic droplet oscillation mode, and the oscillation frequency can be modulated either synergistically or independently by varying the current intensity and/or the TMA angle. Nevertheless, the TMA angle primarily governs the deformation of the magnetic droplet and the corresponding oscillation frequency and linewidth. Moreover, a unique 4 × 4 STNO array with optimized input current and TMA configuration is proposed to execute the reservoir computing hardware training based on nonlinear dynamic oscillation phase-coupling characteristics, promising a diverse synchronization map with high kernel quality and low generation rank for highly reliable pattern classification implementation. The developed STNOs possess a simple structure, nonlinearity, high frequency tunability, and compatibility with CMOS processes, enabling them a fundamental component for large-scale integration of advanced hardware in neuromorphic computing.

Generation of spin polarization in a multibarrier structure

The possibility to induce polarized transmission is investigated in a system of multibarrier magnetic junction. In the undeformed system, the transmission is shown to depend on the incident energy but almost independent of inhomogeneity of potential barrier. A proper selection of incident energy is found sufficient to control both direction and strength of spin polarization. When deformation of momentum wave-vector is introduced, the spin polarization does not only change its dependence on energy but also its intensity. This provides evidence that besides energy, deformation of momentum wave vector could also influence and be used to drive spin of the transmitted current; gaining further control on both direction and intensity. A short survey on the role of local magnetic splitting, ordering of local magnetic field on the spin polarization is also given.

Beyond Stereoisomeric Effects: Exploring the Importance of Intermolecular Electron Spin Interactions in Biorecognition.

This work shows that electron spin polarization and stereoisomeric effects make comparable contributions to the enantioselective binding of amino acids. Magneto-electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance methods are used to study the adsorption of chiral amino acids onto a monolayer film of chiral molecules that are spin polarized by an underlying ferromagnetic substrate. The direction of the electron spin polarization affects both the kinetics and thermodynamics of the enantiospecific adsorption of the amino acids. Comparison of these data with the circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the amino acid adsorbates shows that the CD spectrum of the interacting group provides a good figure-of-merit for predicting the contributions of electron spin to the intermolecular interaction. These findings demonstrate the importance of electron spin in enantioselective intermolecular interactions between chiral amino acids and represent a paradigm shift for how selectivity should be viewed in biorecognition.

Highly Durable Spin Filter Switching Based on Self-Assembled Chiral Molecular Motor.

Chiral molecules have recently received renewed interest as highly efficient sources of spin-selective charge emission known as chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS), which potentially offers a fascinating utilization of organic chiral materials in novel solid-state spintronic devices. However, a practical use of CISS remains far from completion, and rather fundamental obstacles such as (i) external controllability of spin, (ii) function durability, and (iii) improvement of spin-polarization efficiency have not been surmounted to date. In this study, these issues are addressed by developing a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of overcrowded alkene (OCA)-based molecular motor. With this system, it is successfully demonstrated that the direction of spin polarization can be externally and repeatedly manipulated in an extremely stable manner by switching the molecular chirality, which is achieved by a formation of the covalent bonds between the molecules and electrode. In addition, it is found that a higher stereo-ordering architecture of the SAM of OCAs tailored by mixing them with simple alkanethiols considerably enhances the efficiency of spin polarization per a single OCA molecule. All these findings provide the creditable feasibility study for strongly boosting development of CISS-based spintronic devices that can simultaneously fulfill the controllability, durability, and high spin-polarization efficiency.

Angular Dependent Auto-Oscillations by Spin-Transfer and Spin-Orbit Torques in Three-Terminal Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

Spintronic oscillators are promising candidates for neuromorphic computing due to their true miniaturization, non-linearity and synchronization properties. However, spin torque nano-oscillators are excited by current-induced spin-transfer torque which may cause high power consumption and reliability problems. Spin Hall nano-oscillators can realize higher energy efficiency, while their relatively low power emission limits their further applications. Here, we demonstrate three-terminal magnetic tunnel junction based spin torque nano-oscillators excited by the combination of spin-transfer and spin-orbit torques under different angle configurations. Thanks to the large spin Hall angle (-0.278) of W, the ratio between threshold current density of spin-transfer and spin-orbit torques for auto-oscillations can reach 0.6, indicating their high energy efficiency. Furthermore, we observe that the ratio has a sine function dependence on the angle between the spin-polarization directions of spin-transfer and spin-orbit torques. Our work could benefit the development of high-efficiency spintronic oscillators and their large network designs.

Atomic Displacements Enabling the Observation of the Anomalous Hall Effect in a Non-Collinear Antiferromagnet.

Antiferromagnets with non-collinear spin structures display various properties that make them attractive for spintronic devices. Some of the most interesting examples are an anomalous Hall effect despite negligible magnetization and a spin Hall effect with unusual spin polarization directions. However, these effects can only be observed when the sample is set predominantly into a single antiferromagnetic domain state. This can only be achieved when the compensated spin structure is perturbed and displays weak moments due to spin canting that allows for external domain control. In thin films of cubic non-collinear antiferromagnets, this imbalance waspreviously assumed to require tetragonal distortions induced by substrate strain. Here weshow that in Mn3 SnN and Mn3 GaN, spin canting is due to structural symmetry lowering induced by large displacements of the magnetic manganese atoms away from high symmetry positions. These displacements remain hidden in X-ray diffraction when only probing the lattice metric and require measurement of a large set of scattering vectors to resolve the local atomic positions. In Mn3 SnN, the induced net moments enable the observation of the anomalous Hall effect with an unusual temperature dependence, which weconjecture results from a bulk-like temperature-dependent coherent spin rotation within the Kagomeplane. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Nearly perfect spin-filtering effect with tunable spin-polarization direction and huge magnetoresistance in molecular spin valves

Spin-transport properties of molecular spin valves constructed by two chromium-salophene (CrSal) molecules connected with boron nitride (BN) atomic chains are investigated by applying a nonequiblium Green's function method with density functional theory. Nearly perfect spin-filtering effect can be found when the molecular spin valves are set in parallel magnetic configuration. In particular, the direction of the detected spin-polarization signal is reversible by tuning the types of BN atomic chains. Moreover, obvious magnetoresistance (MR) effects are also found in the molecular spin valves. More importantly, the MR ratio can be changed from about 359% to about 1.31×105% by adjusting the types of BN atomic chains. Our work provides a new avenue to realize high-performance multifunctional molecular spin valves.

Quintuple Function Integration in Two-Dimensional Cr(II) Five-Membered Heterocyclic Metal Organic Frameworks via Tuning Ligand Spin and Lattice Symmetry.

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors (SCs) integrated with two or more functions are the cornerstone for constructing multifunctional nanodevices but remain largely limited. Here, by tuning the spin state of organic linkers and the symmetry/topology of crystal lattices, we predict a class of unprecedented multifunctional SCs in 2D Cr(II) five-membered heterocyclic metal organic frameworks that simultaneously possess auxetic effect, room-temperature ferrimagnetism, chiral ferroelectricity (FE), electrically reversible spin polarization, and topological nodal lines/points. Taking 2D Cr(TDZ)2 (TDZ = 1.2.5-thiadiazole) as an exemplification, the auxetic effect is produced by the antitetra-chiral lattice structure. The high temperature ferrimagnetism originates from the strong d-p direct magnetic exchange interaction between Cr cations and TDZ doublet radical anions. Meanwhile, the clockwise-counterclockwise alignment of TDZ's dipoles results in unique 2D chiral FE with atomic-scale vortex-antivortex states. 2D Cr(TDZ)2 is an intrinsic bipolar magnetic SC where half-metallic conduction with switchable spin-polarization direction can be induced by applying a gate voltage. In addition, the symmetry of the little group C4 of the lattice structure endows 2D Cr(TDZ)2 with topological nodal lines and a quadratic nodal point in the Brillouin zone near the Fermi level.

Comment on "Spin- and angle-resolved inverse photoemission setup with spin orientation independent from electron incidence angle" [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 93, 093904 (2022)

The paper under discussion promises a spin- and angle-resolved inverse-photoemission (IPE) setup, where the spin-polarization direction of the electron beam used for excitation "can be tuned to any preferred direction" while "preserving the parallel beam condition." We support the idea to improve IPE setups by introducing a three-dimensional spin-polarization rotator, but we put the presented results to the test by comparing them with the literature results obtained by existing setups. Based on this comparison, we conclude that the presented proof-of-principle experiments miss the target in several aspects. Most importantly, the key experiment of tuning the spin-polarization direction under otherwise allegedly identical experimental conditions causes changes in the IPE spectra that are in conflict with existing experimental results and basic quantum-mechanical considerations. We propose experimental test measurements to identify and overcome the shortcomings.

Unconventional Charge-to-Spin Conversion in Graphene/ MoTe2 van der Waals Heterostructures

Spin-charge interconversion phenomena are important ingredients for the development of post-CMOS spin-based logic and magnetic memory technologies. Device design is often limited, though, by the fact that in most systems conversion occurs only if charge current, spin current, and spin polarization are mutually orthogonal. The authors find that in graphene/MoTe${}_{2}$ van der Waals heterostructures, charge currents injected in any spatial direction contribute to the same particular spin-polarization direction, thanks to a combination of strong spin-orbit proximity effects and broken crystal symmetries. This insight points to efficient spin-current generation and flexible device design.

Electric-Field-Tunable Spin Polarization and Carrier-Transport Anisotropy in an A-Type Antiferromagnetic van der Waals Bilayer

Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic semiconductor materials with the electric-field-tunable spin polarization and carrier-transport anisotropy are of great significance for the fundamental physics and device application. Here we propose a general strategy to tune the spin polarization and anisotropic effective mass in a 2D A-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) bilayer system. We take the A-type AFM bilayer $\mathrm{CrSBr}$ (with the intralayer ferromagnetic and interlayer AFM coupling) as an example to confirm this design principle. Firstly, a vertical electric field can lift the spin degeneracy in the A-type AFM bilayer $\mathrm{CrSBr}$. By flipping the direction of electric field, the spin polarization direction can be reversed. Secondly, in the A-type AFM bilayer $\mathrm{CrSBr}$ with an interlayer twist angle of 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, both the spin direction and the carrier-transport anisotropy can be tuned simultaneously by applying a vertical electric field due to the in-plane anisotropic carrier effective mass in each $\mathrm{CrSBr}$ monolayer. This opens an opportunity for controlling the spin polarization as well as carrier-transport anisotropy in the 2D magnetic van der Waals layered materials by interlayer twist and electric field, and provides an idea for utilizing A-type AFM semiconductors to design spintronic devices.

Prediction of ferromagnetic Weyl semimetal and antiferromagnetic topological insulator phases in MnHg2Te3

Based on first-principles band-structure calculations, we predict that FM MnHg2Te3 is a Weyl semimetal candidate. When the direction of spin polarization is toward the c-axis, there are six Weyl points in the whole Brillouin zone. With spin orientation along the a-axis, there exist eight Weyl points. For AFM MnHg2Te3, when the spin direction is along the c-axis, the band structure is fully gapped. The calculation of the Z2 number confirms that AFM-c MnHg2Te3 is a 3D AFM topological insulator. Adjusting the spin direction from the c-axis to the a-axis only changes the bandgap without affecting the topological properties of this system. The gapless surface-state on the (100) surface is also obtained, the results of which correspond with the properties of the AFM topological insulator.

Magnetic domain wall motion driven by spin-orbit torque based on non-collinear spin source

<p indent="0mm">Recently, the current-induced motion of magnetic domain walls has attracted much attention. It enables electrical control of domain wall motion without the application of an external magnetic field and thus has potential applications in high-performance magnetic racetrack memories, among others. The effective control of domain wall motion under zero magnetic field is one of the important topics in spintronics research. Current-driven magnetization switching via the spin-orbit torque effect is an important approach to realizing the field-free domain wall motion. The traditional research structure of spin-orbit torques is non-magnetic material/magnetic material (NM/FM) heterogeneous films, in which non-magnetic materials are used as the spin source layer to generate and provide spin current through charge-to-spin current conversion. Common non-magnetic materials mainly include heavy metals, such as Pt, β-Ta and β-W. However, in the system with heavy metals as spin sources, the conventional spin Hall effect requires the charge current, spin current and spin polarization directions to be perpendicular to each other, so it is necessary to apply an in-plane auxiliary magnetic field to break the symmetry, especially when driving the perpendicular magnetic moment switching, which increases extra power consumption and is not conducive to practical applications. Recently, it has been found that the spin current generated by the charge current in the outer semimetal WTe₂ is spin polarized in the <bold><italic>z</italic></bold>-direction. It has a unique in-plane symmetry breaking property, where the damping-like torque can contribute more to the domain wall motion of a ferromagnetic layer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Moreover, a unique Rashba-like spin polarization has recently emerged in the noncollinear magnetic structure Mn₃GaN. A charge current is applied in the <bold><italic>x</italic></bold>-direction to generate a spin current in the <bold><italic>z</italic></bold>-direction, with spin polarization along the <bold><italic>x</italic></bold>-direction. The spin polarization along the <bold><italic>x</italic></bold>-direction produces damping-like torque (<bold><italic>τ</italic></bold>_{<italic>x</italic>}_,DL) and field-like torque (<bold><italic>τ</italic></bold>_{<italic>x</italic>}_,FL) in the adjacent in-plane and PMA ferromagnetic layers. The magnetization dynamics of the SOT mentioned above may be quite different. To realize the effectively current-induced spin-orbit torque driven domain wall motion, it is important to understand the spin source with unique physical properties of charge-to-spin conversion. In this work, we study the spin-orbit torque driven domain wall motion by micromagnetic simulations. We consider the mixture of non-collinear spin torques of Rashba-like <bold><italic>S</italic></bold><italic>_y</italic>, Dresselhaus-like <bold><italic>S</italic></bold><italic>_x</italic>, and out-of-plane <bold><italic>S</italic></bold><italic>_z</italic>. The effects of three different domain wall types: Bloch domain wall, Néel domain wall and head-to-head domain wall on motion velocity and the inclination angles of magnetic domain walls are demonstrated. The results for the same magnetic domain show that the current-induced spin polarization perpendicular to the membrane surface generates a damping-like torque perpendicular to the membrane surface, which can efficiently drive the motion of the domain wall. However, in the presence of multiple spin torques, the unconventional damping-like torques in the direction perpendicular to the film surface can be realized to drive domain wall motion at zero field. Our results may provide a new degree of freedom for understanding current-induced spin-orbit torque-driven domain wall motion from non-collinear spin sources for potential applications in spintronic devices.

Unusual Spin Polarization in the Chirality-Induced Spin Selectivity.

Chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS) refers to the fact that electrons get spin polarized after passing through chiral molecules in a nanoscale transport device or in photoemission experiments. In CISS, chiral molecules are commonly believed to be a spin filter through which one favored spin transmits and the opposite spin gets reflected; that is, transmitted and reflected electrons exhibit opposite spin polarization. In this work, we point out that such a spin filter scenario contradicts the principle that equilibrium spin current must vanish. Instead, we find that both transmitted and reflected electrons present the same type of spin polarization, which is actually ubiquitous for a two-terminal device. More accurately, chiral molecules play the role of a spin polarizer rather than a spin filter. The direction of spin polarization is determined by the molecule chirality and the electron incident direction. And the magnitude of spin polarization relies on local spin-orbit coupling in the device. Our work brings a deeper understanding on CISS and interprets recent experiments, for example, the CISS-driven anomalous Hall effect.

Novel magnetic ordering in LiYbO2 probed by muon spin relaxation

The stretched diamond lattice material LiYbO2 has recently been reported to exhibit two magnetic transitions ($T_{N1} = 1.1 K$, $T_{N2} = 0.45 K$) via specific heat, magnetization, and neutron scattering measurements [Bordelon et al., Phys. Rev. B 103, 014420 (2021)]. Here we report complementary magnetic measurements down to T = 0.28 K via the local probe technique of muon spin relaxation. While we observe a rapid increase in the zero-field muon depolarization rate at $T_{N1}$, we do not observe any spontaneous muon precession for $T < T_{N1}$, which is typically associated with long-range magnetic ordering. The depolarization rate in the ordered state shows a surprising sensitivity to magnetic fields applied along the initial spin polarization direction. Using a simple one-dimensional model, we show that these results are consistent with the unusual random-phase bipartite incommensurate magnetic structure proposed by Bordelon et al. for the intermediate temperature range $T_{N2} < T < T_{N1}$. We also find evidence for temperature-independent magnetic fluctuations persisting to our lowest temperatures, but no obvious signature of the transition or spontaneous muon precession at and below TN2, respectively. This result is suggestive of quantum dynamics within a highly degenerate ground state.