Spin Mixing Research Articles

Spin mixing dynamics in a spin-orbit coupled spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensate

We study the spin mixing dynamics of a spin-orbit coupled spin-1 Bose–Einstein condensate. Using mean-field theory and adopting plane wave solutions, the spin mixing dynamics can be well described by an internal Josephson equation. In order to establish the role of the different terms in spin mixing dynamics clearly, we consider the equilibrium state firstly, which shows that the spin-orbit coupling can significantly modify the dispersion relation and change the property of ground state of the condensate. For the non-equilibrium state, the spin-orbit coupling plays an important role in the spin mixing dynamics. Moreover, the oscillation period of spin mixing dynamics is determined by the coupled effects of momentum, magnetization, spin-dependent atomic interaction and spin-orbit coupling. When spin-orbit coupling is less than a critical value, it can prolong the oscillation period of spin mixing dynamics. Conversely, when the spin-orbit coupling is larger than the critical value, it can shorten the oscillation period of spin mixing dynamics. Particularly, when spin-orbit coupling is equal to the critical value, the period tends to infinity. Our study provides a complete spin mixing dynamics of spin-orbit coupled spin-1 BEC, which can be used to explore the spin mixing dynamics experimentally.

Loss of spin polarization in ferromagnet/ferroelectric tunnel junctions due to screening effects

Electric field control of magnetization allows further miniaturization of integrated circuits for binary bit processing and data storage as it eliminates the need for bulky sophisticated systems to induce magnetic fields. Magnetoelectric coupling inherent to the bulk of multiferroic films or control of spin orientation in magnetic layers via piezoelectric strain in dual component composites have been two approaches standing out. Another magnetoelectric effect is spin-dependent screening that occurs at dielectric/ferromagnet interfaces which is of great importance for spin selective tunnel junctions. Here, we analyze the spin-dependent screening of ferroelectric polarization in a film interfacing ferromagnetic electrodes using the continuity equations in continuum media. The competition between the electrostatic and the magnetochemical potential in the FM electrodes gives rise to a reduction in the net magnetic moment near the interface due to spin mixing, extending to a distance comparable to the Thomas–Fermi screening length. Our continuum media treatment shows that the local spin population in spin subbands near the interfaces can dramatically deviate from bulk, which is in qualitative agreement with recent first principles results. We compute the tunneling currents for the majority and minority spins using the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation as a function of ferroelectric polarization. We find that the spin polarization tends to disappear for increasing values of ferroelectric polarization in direct connection with the increase in subband spin population for minority spins at the interface.

Spin mixing between subbands and extraordinary Landau-level shift in wide HgTe quantum wells

We present both the experimental and theoretical investigation of a non-trivial electron Landau levels shift in magnetic field in wide ~20 nm HgTe quantum wells: Landau levels split under magnetic fields but become degenerate again when magnetic field increases. We reproduced this behavior qualitatively within an isotropic 6-band Kane model, then using semiclassical calculations we showed this behavior is due to the mixing of the conduction band with total spin 3/2 with the next well subband with spin 1/2 which reduces the average vertical spin from 3/2 to around 1. This change of the average spin changes the Berry phase explaining the evolution of Landau levels under magnetic field.

Nanoviscosity effect on the spin chemistry of an electron donor/Pt-complex /electron acceptor triad - classical and quantum kinetics interpretation

The magnetic-field dependent charge recombination kinetics upon ns-laser flash photolysis of a novel triarylamine/cyclometalated platinum complex/napthalenediimide triad (DPtA) have been measured in tetrahydrofuran (THF) and polytetrahydrofuran (pTHF) to study the spinchemical effect of a large increase of the macroviscosity of the solvent by a factor of about 1000. The magnetic-field dependence of the decay kinetics of the charge separated state has been accurately reproduced by a classical kinetic model, wherein the rate constants of transitions between spin substates of different Zeeman energy are represented by a single magnetic-field dependent rate constant k±. In THF, the magnetic-field dependence of k± is given by a double Lorentzian function which, in a double log plot, shows two characteristic steps that can be consistently assigned to the magnetic field inhibition of the coherent and incoherent i.e. relaxational spin mixing mechanism. In pTHF, the magnetic field effect on k± is a single step function decreasing to its limiting value at about 5 times lower fields than in THF. As shown by a quantum theoretical simulation, in this solvent coherent and incoherent processes are contributing equally at all fields. The nanoviscosity of pTHF appears to be much smaller than its macroviscosity.

Correlation between the width and the magnitude of magnetoconductance response in π-conjugated polymer-based diodes

Hyperfine interaction (HFI) has been considered as a dominant spin mixing mechanism in conventional semiconducting polymers causing large magnetoconductance (MC) in organic diodes. However, the relationship between the MC width or HFI strength and the MC magnitude has not been investigated. We studied the correlation between the width and the magnitude of the MC response in organic diodes made by several conventional π-conjugated semiconducting polymers. First, by comparing the MC responses in electron- and hole-only unipolar devices made by the same polymer, we found that the electron-only device with a larger MC width always show a larger MC magnitude than that in the corresponding hole-only device. Second, we intentionally decreased and increased the charge localization or HFI strength in these unipolar devices by controlling their annealing temperature and UV irradiation, respectively. We found that the MC magnitude in these unipolar devices generally increases when the HFI strength increases but with different rates. We conclude that the width of MC or HFI strength is a crucial but not a unique factor that influences the MC magnitude. Finally, although the HFI in bipolar devices is smaller than that in the corresponding electron-only devices, the MC magnitude in bipolar devices is always larger than that in the electron-only devices suggesting that their underlying mechanisms are different.

Optimal control of universal quantum gates in a double quantum dot

We theoretically investigate electron spin operations driven by applied electric fields in a semiconductor double quantum dot (DQD). Our model describes a DQD formed in semiconductor nanowire with longitudinal potential modulated by local gating. The eigenstates for two electron occupation, including spin-orbit interaction, are calculated and then used to construct a model for the charge transport cycle in the DQD taking into account the spatial dependence and spin mixing of states. The dynamics of the system is simulated aiming at implementing protocols for qubit operations, that is, controlled transitions between the singlet and triplet states. In order to obtain fast spin manipulation, the dynamics is carried out taking advantage of the anticrossings of energy levels introduced by the spin-orbit and interdot couplings. The theory of optimal quantum control is invoked to find the specific electric-field driving that performs qubit logical operations. We demonstrate that it is possible to perform within high efficiency a universal set of quantum gates $\{$CNOT, H$\otimes$I, I$\otimes$H, T$\otimes$I, and T$\otimes$I$\}$, where H is the Hadamard gate, T is the $\pi/8$ gate, and I is the identity, even in the presence of a fast charge transport cycle and charge noise effects.

J-Resonance Line Shape of Magnetic Field-Affected Reaction Yield Spectrum from Charge Recombination in a Linked Donor–Acceptor Dyad

Magnetic field effects (MFEs) allow detailed insight into spin conversion processes of radical pairs that are formed, for example, in all charge separation processes, and are supposed to play the key role in avian navigation. In this work, the MFE of charge recombination in the charge-separated state of a rigid donor–bridge–acceptor dyad was analyzed by a classical and a quantum theoretical model and represents a paradigm case of understanding spin chemistry with unprecedented detail. The MFE is represented by magnetic field-affected reaction yield (MARY) spectra that exhibit a sharp resonance, resulting from S/T level crossing as the Zeeman splitting equals twice the exchange interaction. Although in the classical kinetic model, the spin conversion processes between the four singlet and triplet substates are shown for the first time to obey an identical generalized energy dependence, quantum theory proves that the MARY resonance line is composed of relaxation, coherent hyperfine induced spin mixing, and S/T dephasing contributions.

Selective Optical Addressing of Nuclear Spins through Superhyperfine Interaction in Rare-Earth Doped Solids.

In Er^{3+}:Y_{2}SiO_{5}, we demonstrate the selective optical addressing of the ^{89}Y^{3+} nuclear spins through their superhyperfine coupling with the Er^{3+} electronic spins possessing large Landé g factors. We experimentally probe the electron-nuclear spin mixing with photon echo techniques and validate our model. The site-selective optical addressing of the Y^{3+} nuclear spins is designed by adjusting the magnetic field strength and orientation. This constitutes an important step towards the realization of long-lived solid-state qubits optically addressed by telecom photons.

Nonlocal magnon spin transport in yttrium iron garnet with tantalum and platinum spin injection/detection electrodes

We study the magnon spin transport in the magnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) in a nonlocal experiment and compare the magnon spin excitation and detection for the heavy metal paramagnetic electrodes platinum (Pt|YIG|Pt) and tantalum (Ta|YIG|Ta). The electrical injection and detection processes rely on the (inverse) spin Hall effect in the heavy metals and the conversion between the electron spin and magnon spin at the heavy metal|YIG interface. Pt and Ta possess opposite signs of the spin Hall angle. Furthermore, their heterostructures with YIG have different interface properties, i.e. spin mixing conductances. By varying the distance between injector and detector, the magnon spin transport is studied. Using a circuit model based on the diffusion-relaxation transport theory, a similar magnon relaxation length of ∼10 μm was extracted from both Pt and Ta devices. By changing the injector and detector material from Pt to Ta, the influence of interface properties on the magnon spin transport has been observed. For Ta devices on YIG the spin mixing conductance is reduced compared with Pt devices, which is quantitatively consistent when comparing the dependence of the nonlocal signal on the injector-detector distance with the prediction from the circuit model.

Spatially distributed multipartite entanglement enables EPR steering of atomic clouds.

A key resource for distributed quantum-enhanced protocols is entanglement between spatially separated modes. However, the robust generation and detection of entanglement between spatially separated regions of an ultracold atomic system remain a challenge. We used spin mixing in a tightly confined Bose-Einstein condensate to generate an entangled state of indistinguishable particles in a single spatial mode. We show experimentally that this entanglement can be spatially distributed by self-similar expansion of the atomic cloud. We used spatially resolved spin read-out to reveal a particularly strong form of quantum correlations known as Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering between distinct parts of the expanded cloud. Based on the strength of EPR steering, we constructed a witness, which confirmed genuine 5-partite entanglement.

Spin properties of black phosphorus and phosphorene, and their prospects for spincalorics

Semiconducting black phosphorus attracts a lot of attention due to its extraordinary electronic properties. Its application to spincalorics requires the knowledge about the spin and thermal properties. Here, we describe first principles calculations of the spin–orbit coupling and spin scattering in phosphorene and bulk black phosphorus. We find that the intrinsic spin–orbit coupling is of the order of 20 meV for the valence and conduction band, both for phosphorene and bulk black phosphorus, and induces spin mixing with the probability –10−4. A strong anisotropy of b2 is observed. The calculated Elliott–Yafet spin relaxation times reach nanoseconds for realistic values of the momentum relaxation times. The extrinsic spin–orbit coupling, enabling the D’yakonov–Perel’ spin relaxation mechanism, is studied for phosphorene by application of a transverse electric field. We observe a strong anisotropy of the extrinsic effects for the valence band and much weaker for the conduction band. It is shown, that for small enough electric fields the spin relaxation is dominated by the Elliott–Yafet mechanism, while the D’yakonov–Perel’ matters for higher electric fields. Our theoretical results stay in a good agreement with the experimental findings, and indicates that long spin lifetimes in black phosphorus and phosphorene makes them prospective materials for spincalorics and spintronics.

Spin mixing and protection of ferromagnetism in a spinor dipolar condensate

We study spin mixing dynamics in a chromium dipolar Bose-Einstein Condensate, after tilting the atomic spins by an angle $\theta$ with respect to the magnetic field. Spin mixing is triggered by dipolar coupling, but, once dynamics has started, it is mostly driven by contact interactions. For the particular case $\theta=\pi/2$, an external spin-orbit coupling term induced by a magnetic gradient is required to enable the dynamics. Then the initial ferromagnetic character of the gas is locally preserved, an unexpected feature that we attribute to large spin-dependent contact interactions.

Effect of spin relaxations on the spin mixing conductances for a bilayer structure

The spin current can result in a spin-transfer torque in the normal-metal(NM)—ferromagnetic-insulator(FMI) or normal-metal(NM)—ferromagnetic-metal(FMM) bilayer. In the earlier study on this issue, the spin relaxations were ignored or introduced phenomenologically. In this paper, considering the FMM or FMI with spin relaxations described by a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, we derive an effective spin-transfer torque and an effective spin mixing conductance in the non-Hermitian bilayer. The dependence of the effective spin mixing conductance on the system parameters (such as insulating gap, s-d coupling, and layer thickness) as well as the relations between the real part and the imaginary part of the effective spin mixing conductance are given and discussed. We find that the effective spin mixing conductance can be enhanced in the non-Hermitian system. This provides us with the possibility to enhance the spin mixing conductance.

Intersystem Crossing and Triplet Fusion in Singlet-Fission-Dominated Rubrene-Based OLEDs Under High Bias Current.

Singlet fission is usually the only reaction channel for excited states in rubrene-based organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) at ambient temperature. Intriguingly, we discover that triplet fusion (TF) and intersystem crossing (ISC) within rubrene-based devices begin at moderate and high current densities (j), respectively. Both processes enhance with decreasing temperature. This behavior is discovered by analyzing the magneto-electroluminescence curves of the devices. The j-dependent magneto-conductance, measured at ambient temperature indicates that spin mixing within polaron pairs that are generated by triplet-charge annihilation (TQA) causes the occurrence of ISC, while the high concentrations of triplets are responsible for generating TF. Additionally, the reduction in exciton formation and the elevated TQA with decreasing temperature may contribute to the enhanced ISC at low temperatures. This work provides considerable insight into the different mechanisms that occur when a high density of excited states exist in rubrene and reasonable reasons for the absence of EL efficiency roll-off in rubrene-based OLEDs.

Extraction of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling constant from scanning gate microscopy conductance maps for quantum point contacts

We study the possibility for the extraction of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling constant for a two-dimensional electron gas with the conductance microscopy technique. Due to the interplay between the effective magnetic field due to the Rashba spin-orbit coupling and the external magnetic field applied within the plane of confinement, the electron backscattering induced by a charged tip of an atomic force microscope located above the sample leads to the spin precession and spin mixing of the incident and reflected electron waves between the QPC and the tip-induced 2DEG depletion region. This mixing leads to a characteristic angle-dependent beating pattern visible in the conductance maps. We show that the structure of the Fermi level, bearing signatures of the spin-orbit coupling, can be extracted from the Fourier transform of the interference fringes in the conductance maps as a function of the magnetic field direction. We propose a simple analytical model which can be used to fit the experimental data in order to obtain the spin-orbit coupling constant.

Direct enhancement of nitrogen-15 targets at high-field by fast ADAPT-SABRE

Signal Amplification by Reversible Exchange (SABRE) is an attractive nuclear spin hyperpolarization technique capable of huge sensitivity enhancement in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) detection. The resonance condition of SABRE hyperpolarization depends on coherent spin mixing, which can be achieved naturally at a low magnetic field. The optimum transfer field to spin-1/2 heteronuclei is technically demanding, as it requires field strengths weaker than the earth’s magnetic field for efficient spin mixing. In this paper, we illustrate an approach to achieve strong 15N SABRE hyperpolarization at high magnetic field by a radio frequency (RF) driven coherent transfer mechanism based on alternate pulsing and delay to achieve polarization transfer. The presented scheme is found to be highly robust and much faster than existing related methods, producing ∼3 orders of magnitude 15N signal enhancement within 2 s of RF pulsing.

Delayed versus accelerated quarkonium formation in a magnetic field

Formation time of heavy quarkonia in a homogeneous magnetic field is analyzed by using a phenomenological ansatz of the vector current correlator. Because the existence of a magnetic field mixes vector quarkonia ($J/\psi$, $\psi^\prime$) and their pseudoscalar partners ($\eta_c$, $\eta_c^\prime$), the properties of the quarkonia can be modified through such a spin mixing. This means that the formation time of quarkonia is also changed by the magnetic field. We show the formation time of vector quarkonia is delayed by an idealized constant magnetic field, where the formation time of the excited state becomes longer than that of the ground state. As a more realistic situation in heavy-ion collisions, effects by a time-dependent magnetic field are also discussed, where delayed formation of $J/\psi$ and $\psi^\prime$ and very early formation of $\eta_c$ and $\eta_c^\prime$ are found.

Generalized Elliott-Yafet spin-relaxation time for arbitrary spin mixing

We extend our recent result for the spin-relaxation time due to acoustic electron-phonon scattering in degenerate bands with spin mixing [New J. Phys. 18, 023012 (2015)] to include interactions with optical phonons, and present a numerical evaluation of the spin-relaxation time for intraband hole-phonon scattering in the heavy-hole (HH) bands of bulk GaAs. Comparing our computed spin-relaxation times to the conventional Elliott-Yafet result quantitatively demonstrates that the latter underestimates the spin-relaxation time because it does not correctly describe how electron-phonon interactions change the (vector) spin expectation value of the single-particle states. We show that the conventional Elliott-Yafet spin relaxation time is a special case of our result for weak spin mixing.

Negative tunneling magnetoresistance of Fe/MgO/NiO/Fe magnetic tunnel junction: Role of spin mixing and interface state

Motivated by a recent tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) measurement in which the negative TMR is observed in MgO/NiO-based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), we have performed systematic calculations of transmission, current, and TMR of Fe/MgO/NiO/Fe MTJ with different thicknesses of NiO and MgO layers based on noncollinear density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green's function theory. The calculations show that, as the thickness of NiO and MgO layers is small, the negative TMR can be obtained which is attributed to the spin mixing effect and interface state. However, in the thick MTJ, the spin-flipping scattering becomes weaker, and thus, the MTJs recover positive TMR. Based on our theoretical results, we believe that the interface state at Fe/NiO interface and the spin mixing effect induced by noncollinear interfacial magnetization will play important role in determining transmission and current of Fe/MgO/NiO/Fe MTJ. The results reported here will be important in understanding the electron tunneling in MTJ with the barrier made by transition metal oxide.

Photon Emissions from a Spinor Bose–Einstein Condensate of Positroniums**Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11434011, 11674334, 11421063, and 11674393, National Key Basic Research Special Foundation of China under Grant No. 2012CB922104, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China under Grant Nos. 16XNLQ03 and 17XNH054

We investigate the quantum dynamics of the decay of a multiple-component positronium condensate into pairs of photons. A positronium atom has four internal spin states which are interconvertible through s-wave interactions. The quantum fields of all spin states of positroniums and photons are simulated from first principle in quasi-one-dimensional system using the truncated Wigner method. This method warrants us a full treatment of the depletion of positronium fields and the spin mixing induced by s-wave collisions between positronium atoms. Particularly, it yields the momentum spectrum of the emitted photons and the photon-photon correlations.