Hanle Spin Precession Measurements Research Articles

Strong In-Plane Magnetization and Spin Polarization in (Co0.15Fe0.85)5GeTe2/Graphene van der Waals Heterostructure Spin-Valve at Room Temperature.

Van der Waals (vdW) magnets are promising, because of their tunable magnetic properties with doping or alloy composition, where the strength of magnetic interactions, their symmetry, and magnetic anisotropy can be tuned according to the desired application. However, so far, most of the vdW magnet-based spintronic devices have been limited to cryogenic temperatures with magnetic anisotropies favoring out-of-plane or canted orientation of the magnetization. Here, we report beyond room-temperature lateral spin-valve devices with strong in-plane magnetization and spin polarization of the vdW ferromagnet (Co0.15Fe0.85)5GeTe2 (CFGT) in heterostructures with graphene. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the magnitude of the anisotropy depends on the Co concentration and is caused by the substitution of Co in the outermost Fe layer. Magnetization measurements reveal the above room-temperature ferromagnetism in CFGT and clear remanence at room temperature. Heterostructures consisting of CFGT nanolayers and graphene were used to experimentally realize basic building blocks for spin valve devices, such as efficient spin injection and detection. Further analysis of spin transport and Hanle spin precession measurements reveals a strong in-plane magnetization with negative spin polarization at the interface with graphene, which is supported by the calculated spin-polarized density of states of CFGT. The in-plane magnetization of CFGT at room temperature proves its usefulness in graphene lateral spin-valve devices, thus revealing its potential application in spintronic technologies.

Spintronic Quantum Phase Transition in a Graphene/Pb0.24Sn0.76Te Heterostructure with Giant Rashba Spin‐Orbit Coupling

AbstractMechanical stacking of two dissimilar materials often has surprising consequences for heterostructure behavior. In particular, a 2D electron gas (2DEG) is formed in the heterostructure of the topological crystalline insulator Pb0.24Sn0.76Te and graphene due to contact of a polar with a nonpolar surface and the resulting changes in electronic structure needed to avoid polar catastrophe. The spintronic properties of this heterostructure with non‐local spin valve devices are studied. This study observes spin‐momentum locking at lower temperatures that transitions to regular spin channel transport only at ≈40 K. Hanle spin precession measurements show a spin relaxation time as high as 2.18 ns. Density functional theory calculations confirm that the spin‐momentum locking is due to a giant Rashba effect in the material and that the phase transition is a Lifshitz transition. The theoretically predicted Lifshitz transition is further evident in the phase transition‐like behavior in the Landé g‐factor and spin relaxation time.

Charge to spin conversion in van der Waals metal NbSe2

Quantum materials with a large charge current-induced spin polarization are promising for next-generation all-electrical spintronic science and technology. Van der Waals metals with high spin–orbit coupling and spin textures have attracted significant attention for an efficient charge-to-spin conversion process. Here, we demonstrate the electrical generation of spin polarization in NbSe2 up to room temperature. Characterization of NbSe2 shows superconducting transition temperature, Tc ∼ 7 K. To probe the current-induced spin polarization in NbSe2, we used a graphene-based non-local spin-valve device, where the spin-polarization in NbSe2 is efficiently injected and detected using non-local spin-switch and Hanle spin precession measurements. A significantly higher charge-spin conversion in NbSe2 is observed at a lower temperature. Systematic measurements provide the possible origins of the spin polarization to be predominantly due to the spin Hall effect or Rashba–Edelstein effect in NbSe2, considering different symmetry-allowed charge-spin conversion processes.

Nonlinear Analog Spintronics with van der Waals Heterostructures

The current generation of spintronic devices, which use electron-spin relies on linear operations for spin-injection, transport and detection processes. The existence of nonlinearity in a spintronic device is indispensable for spin-based complex signal processing operations. Here we for the first time demonstrate the presence of electron-spin dependent nonlinearity in a spintronic device, and measure up to 4th harmonic spin-signals via nonlocal spin-valve and Hanle spin-precession measurements. We demonstrate its application for analog signal processing over pure spin-signals such as amplitude modulation and heterodyne detection operations which require nonlinearity as an essential element. Furthermore, we show that the presence of nonlinearity in the spin-signal has an amplifying effect on the energy-dependent conductivity induced nonlinear spin-to-charge conversion effect. The interaction of the two spin-dependent nonlinear effects in the spin transport channel leads to a highly efficient detection of the spin-signal without using ferromagnets. These effects are measured both at 4K and room temperature, and are suitable for their applications as nonlinear circuit elements in the fields of advanced-spintronics and spin-based neuromorphic computing.

Modulating room temperature spin injection into GaN towards the high-efficiency spin-light emitting diodes

Spin injection performance in GaN film was systematically investigated through the three-terminal Hanle spin precession measurements with the comparison of varied tunnel barrier thickness, spin injector materials, and channel widths. Spin relaxation time and diffusion length were optimized to 37.3 ps and 139.0 nm at room temperature, respectively. With the optimal spin injector, a 12% spin polarization was obtained in a four-terminal non-local spin valve device. By applying the optimized spin injector structure to the spin-light emitting diodes, room temperature circular polarization ratios of 6.2% and 9.2% for Co and Fe spin polarizers were respectively achieved at surface-emission.

Simulations on the Influence of Spatially Varying Spin Transport Parameters on the Measured Spin Lifetime in Graphene Non‐Local Spin Valves

Spin transport properties of graphene non-local spin valve devices are typically determined from Hanle spin precession measurements by using a simplified solution of the one-dimensional Bloch-Torrey equation which assumes infinitely long transport channels and uniform spin transport parameter. We investigate the effects of a finite graphene size and explore the influence of spatially-varying transport parameters on the measured Hanle curves by finite element simulations. We assume enhanced spin dephasing in the contact-covered graphene areas with additional Fermi level pinning and explore the influence of non-magnetic reference electrodes which are not properly decoupled from graphene. In experiments, it is typically observed that the spin lifetime increases with increasing charge carrier density. None of our simulations can reproduce this trend indicating that this dependency originates from spin transport through graphene areas which are not covered by contacts. We find that the extracted spin lifetime might be overestimated in flakes which are shorter than the spin diffusion length. Moreover, contact-induced spin dephasing leads to an overall reduction of the extracted spin lifetime. Additionally, we show that non-magnetic reference electrodes may also influence the measured spin lifetime even though they are not part of the transport area under investigation.

Opto-Valleytronic Spin Injection in Monolayer MoS2/Few-Layer Graphene Hybrid Spin Valves.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials provide a unique platform for spintronics and valleytronics due to the ability to combine vastly different functionalities into one vertically stacked heterostructure, where the strengths of each of the constituent materials can compensate for the weaknesses of the others. Graphene has been demonstrated to be an exceptional material for spin transport at room temperature; however, it lacks a coupling of the spin and optical degrees of freedom. In contrast, spin/valley polarization can be efficiently generated in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) such as MoS2 via absorption of circularly polarized photons, but lateral spin or valley transport has not been realized at room temperature. In this Letter, we fabricate monolayer MoS2/few-layer graphene hybrid spin valves and demonstrate, for the first time, the opto-valleytronic spin injection across a TMD/graphene interface. We observe that the magnitude and direction of spin polarization is controlled by both helicity and photon energy. In addition, Hanle spin precession measurements confirm optical spin injection, spin transport, and electrical detection up to room temperature. Finally, analysis by a one-dimensional drift-diffusion model quantifies the optically injected spin current and the spin transport parameters. Our results demonstrate a 2D spintronic/valleytronic system that achieves optical spin injection and lateral spin transport at room temperature in a single device, which paves the way for multifunctional 2D spintronic devices for memory and logic applications.

Graphene- WS2 heterostructures for tunable spin injection and spin transport

We report the first measurements of spin injection in to graphene through a 20 nm thick tungsten disulphide (WS$_2$) layer, along with a modified spin relaxation time ({\tau}s) in graphene in the WS$_2$ environment, via spin-valve and Hanle spin-precession measurements, respectively. First, during the spin-injection into graphene through a WS$_2$-graphene interface, we can tune the interface resistance at different current bias and modify the spin injection efficiency, in a correlation with the conductivity-mismatch theory. Temperature assisted tunneling is identified as a dominant mechanism for the charge transport across the interface. Second, we measure the spin transport in graphene, underneath the WS$_2$ crystal and observe a significant reduction in the {\tau}s down to 17 ps in graphene in the WS$_2$ covered region, compared to that in its pristine state. The reduced {\tau}s indicates the WS$_2$-proximity induced additional dephasing of the spins in graphene.

Hanle precession in the presence of energy-dependent coupling between localized states and an epitaxial graphene spin channel

Hanle spin precession measurements are a common method to extract the spin transport properties of graphene. In epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide, these measurements show unexpected behavior, due to presumed localized states in the carbon buffer layer that is present between the channel and the substrate. As a consequence, the Hanle curve narrows in its magnetic field dependence and can show an unconventional shape, which has been experimentally observed and modeled in previous studies. Here, we extend the previously developed model by assuming that the localized states are charge traps, that have a power-law distribution of trapping times. Our simulations show that the energy dependence of these trapping times can be extracted from the temperature evolution of the Hanle curve, which was previously observed in experiments. Our extended model gives better insight into what processes play a role when a spin channel is coupled to localized states and their relation to the experimental observations.

Observation and modelling of ferromagnetic contact-induced spin relaxation in Hanle spin precession measurements

In the nonlocal spin valve (NLSV) geometry, four-terminal electrical Hanle effect measurements have the potential to provide a particularly simple determination of the lifetime $({\ensuremath{\tau}}_{s})$ and diffusion length $({\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{N}})$ of spins injected into nonmagnetic (N) materials. Recent papers, however, have demonstrated that traditional models typically used to fit such data provide an inaccurate measurement of ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{s}$ in ferromagnet (FM)/N metal devices with low interface resistance, particularly when the separation of the source and detector contacts is small. In the transparent limit, this shortcoming is due to the back diffusion and subsequent relaxation of spins within the FM contacts, which is not properly accounted for in standard models of the Hanle effect. Here we have used the separation dependence of the spin accumulation signal in NLSVs with multiple FM/N combinations, and interfaces in the diffusive limit, to determine ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{N}}$ in traditional spin valve measurements. We then compare these results to Hanle measurements as analyzed using models that either include or exclude spin sinking. We demonstrate that differences between the spin valve and Hanle measurements of ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{N}}$ can be quantitatively modelled provided that both the FM contact-induced isotropic spin sinking and the full three-dimensional geometry of the devices, which is particularly important at small contact separations, are accounted for. We find, however, that considerable difficulties persist, in particular due to the sensitivity of fitting to the contact interface resistance and the FM contact magnetization rotation, in precisely determining ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{N}}$ with the Hanle technique alone, particularly at small contact separations.

Electrical spin injection and detection of spin precession in room temperature bulk GaN lateral spin valves

We report the measurement of diffusive electronic spin transport characteristics in an epitaxial wurtzite GaN lateral spin valve at room temperature. Hanle spin precession and non-local spin accumulation measurements have been performed with the spin valves fabricated with FeCo/MgO spin contacts. Electron spin relaxation length and spin-flip lifetime of 176 nm and 37 ps, respectively, are derived from analysis of results obtained from four-terminal Hanle spin precession measurements at 300 K. The role of dislocations and defects in bulk GaN has also been examined in the context of electronic spin relaxation dynamics.

Spin relaxation in graphene with self-assembled cobalt porphyrin molecules

In graphene spintronics, interaction of localized magnetic moments with the electron spins paves a new way to explore the underlying spin relaxation mechanism. A self-assembled layer of organic cobalt-porphyrin (CoPP) molecules on graphene provides a desired platform for such studies via the magnetic moments of porphyrin-bound cobalt atoms. In this work a study of spin transport properties of graphene spin-valve devices functionalized with such CoPP molecules as a function of temperature via non-local spin-valve and Hanle spin precession measurements is reported. For the functionalized (molecular) devices, we observe a slight decrease in the spin relaxation time ({\tau}s), which could be an indication of enhanced spin-flip scattering of the electron spins in graphene in the presence of the molecular magnetic moments. The effect of the molecular layer is masked for low quality samples (low mobility), possibly due to dominance of Elliot-Yafet (EY) type spin relaxation mechanisms.

Localized States Influence Spin Transport in Epitaxial Graphene

We developed a spin transport model for a diffusive channel with coupled localized states that result in an effective increase of spin precession frequencies and a reduction of spin relaxation times in the system. We apply this model to Hanle spin precession measurements obtained on monolayer epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001). Combined with newly performed measurements on quasi-free-standing monolayer epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) our analysis shows that the different values for the diffusion coefficient measured in charge and spin transport measurements on monolayer epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) and the high values for the spin relaxation time can be explained by the influence of localized states arising from the buffer layer at the interface between the graphene and the SiC surface.

Contact-induced spin relaxation in Hanle spin precession measurements

In the field of spintronics the "conductivity mismatch" problem remains an important issue. Here the difference between the resistance of ferromagnetic electrodes and a (high resistive) transport channel causes injected spins to be backscattered into the leads and to lose their spin information. We study the effect of the resulting contact induced spin relaxation on spin transport, in particular on non-local Hanle precession measurements. As the Hanle line shape is modified by the contact induced effects, the fits to Hanle curves can result in incorrectly determined spin transport properties of the transport channel. We quantify this effect that mimics a decrease of the spin relaxation time of the channel reaching more than 4 orders of magnitude and a minor increase of the diffusion coefficient by less than a factor of 2. Then we compare the results to spin transport measurements on graphene from the literature. We further point out guidelines for a Hanle precession fitting procedure that allows to reliably extract spin transport properties from measurements.

Magnetic Moment Formation in Graphene Detected by Scattering of Pure Spin Currents

Hydrogen adatoms are shown to generate magnetic moments inside single layer graphene. Spin transport measurements on graphene spin valves exhibit a dip in the nonlocal spin signal as a function of the applied magnetic field, which is due to scattering (relaxation) of pure spin currents by exchange coupling to the magnetic moments. Furthermore, Hanle spin precession measurements indicate the presence of an exchange field generated by the magnetic moments. The entire experiment including spin transport is performed in an ultrahigh vacuum chamber, and the characteristic signatures of magnetic moment formation appear only after hydrogen adatoms are introduced. Lattice vacancies also demonstrate similar behavior indicating that the magnetic moment formation originates from p(z)-orbital defects.

Detection of Electrically Modulated Inverse Spin Hall Effect in anFe/GaAsMicrodevice

We report the detection of the inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) in n-gallium arsenide (n-GaAs) combined with electrical injection and modulation of the spin current. We use epitaxial ultrathin-Fe/GaAs injection contacts with strong in-plane magnetic anisotropy. This allows us to simultaneously perform Hanle spin-precession measurements on an Fe detection electrode and ISHE measurements in an applied in-plane hard-axis magnetic field. In this geometry, we can experimentally separate the ordinary from the spin-Hall signals. Electrical spin injection and detection are combined in our microdevice with an applied electrical drift current to modulate the spin distribution and spin current in the channel. The magnitudes and external field dependencies of the signals are quantitatively modeled by solving drift-diffusion and Hall-cross response equations.

Linear scaling between momentum and spin scattering in graphene

Spin transport in graphene carries the potential of a long spin-diffusion length at room temperature. However, extrinsic relaxation processes limit the current experimental values to $1--2\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\text{m}$. We present Hanle spin precession measurements in gated lateral spin valve devices in the low to high (up to ${10}^{13}\text{ }{\text{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$) carrier density range of graphene. A linear scaling between the spin-diffusion length and the diffusion coefficient is observed. We measure nearly identical spin- and charge diffusion coefficients indicating that electron-electron interactions are relatively weak and transport is limited by impurity potential scattering. When extrapolated to the maximum carrier mobilities of $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{5}\text{ }{\text{cm}}^{2}/\text{Vs}$, our results predict that a considerable increase in the spin-diffusion length should be possible.