Degree Of Spin Polarization Research Articles

Attosecond control of spin polarization in electron–ion recollision driven by intense tailored fields

Tunnel ionization of noble gas atoms driven by a strong circularly polarized laser field in combination with a counter-rotating second harmonic generates spin-polarized electrons correlated to the spin-polarized ionic core. Crucially, such two-color field can bring the spin-polarized electrons back to the parent ion, enabling the scattering of the spin-polarized electron on the spin-polarized parent ion. Here we show how one can control the degree of spin polarization as a function of electron energy and recollision time by tuning the laser parameters, such as the relative intensities of the counter-rotating fields. The attosecond precision of the control over the degree of spin polarization opens the door for attosecond control and spectroscopy of spin-resolved dynamics.

Spin-polarized electrons upon nondipole photodetachment of fullerene anions

SynopsisSpin-polarization of electrons ejected from fullerene anions in the geometry where only nondipole photodetachment effects matter is studied at photon energies of only few tens of eV. The degree of electron spin-polarization is found to be on the order of 5 to 10%, at certain energies. This is remarkable, given that this happens at low photon energies.

New laser polarization line at the ISOLDE facility

Following a growing interest in spin-polarized beams of radioactive ions, a new laser spin-polarization setup has been installed at the ISOLDE facility at CERN. The setup is located at the VITO beamline which aims to bring together several experimental techniques using polarized ions allowing for studies in nuclear physics, fundamental interactions, material and life sciences. Intensive design work, which took place in 2016, allowed the installation of the first stage of the polarization line. With this experimental setup, the ion beam can be neutralized, polarized and implanted into a solid sample inside an electromagnet which also hosts β-detectors, where the degree of nuclear spin polarization can be measured. In autumn 2016 the setup was commissioned using short-lived 26Na and 28Na beams which were polarized in the D2 line from their atomic ground state. The previously observed degrees of β asymmetry were reproduced and thus the beamline is now ready for the first physics experiments with spin-polarized radioactive beams.

Manipulation of dynamic nuclear spin polarization in single quantum dots by photonic environment engineering

Optically induced dynamic nuclear spin polarization (DNP) in a semiconductor quantum dot (QD) requires many cycles of excitation of spin polarized carriers and carrier recombination. As such, the radiative lifetime of the exciton containing the electron becomes one of the limiting factors of DNP. In principle, changing the radiative lifetime of the exciton will affect DNP and thus the nuclear spin polarization. Here, we demonstrate the manipulation of DNP in single QDs through the engineering of the photonic environment using two-dimensional photonic crystals. We find that the achievable degree of nuclear spin polarization can be controlled through the modification of exciton radiative lifetime. Our results show the promise of achieving a higher degree of nuclear spin polarization via photonic environment engineering, with implications on spin-based quantum information processing.

Ultrafast Magnetization of a Dense Molecular Gas with an Optical Centrifuge.

Strong laser-induced magnetization of oxygen gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure is achieved experimentally on the subnanosecond time scale. The method is based on controlling the electronic spin of paramagnetic molecules by means of manipulating their rotation with an optical centrifuge. Spin-rotational coupling results in a high degree of spin polarization on the order of one Bohr magneton per centrifuged molecule. Owing to the nonresonant interaction with the laser pulses, the demonstrated technique is applicable to a broad class of paramagnetic rotors. Executed in a high-density gas, it may offer an efficient way of generating macroscopic magnetic fields remotely (as shown in this work) and producing a large amount of spin-polarized electrons.

Spin-Polarization in Quasi-Magnetic Tunnel Junctions**Supported by the Key Natural Science Fund of Sichuan Province Education Department under Grant Nos 13ZA0149 and 16ZA0047, and the Construction Plan for Scientific Research Innovation Team of Universities in Sichuan Province under Grant No 12TD008.

Spin polarization in ferromagnetic metal/insulator/spin-filter barrier/nonmagnetic metal, referred to as quasi-magnetic tunnel junctions, is studied within the free-electron model. Our results show that large positive or negative spin-polarization can be obtained at high bias in quasi-magnetic tunnel junctions, and within large bias variation regions, the degree of spin-polarization can be linearly tuned by bias. These linear variation regions of spin-polarization with bias are influenced by the barrier thicknesses, barrier heights and molecular fields in the spin-filter (SF) layer. Among them, the variations of thickness and heights of the insulating and SF barrier layers have influence on the value of spin-polarization and the linear variation regions of spin-polarization with bias. However, the variations of molecular field in the SF layer only have influence on the values of the spin-polarization and the influences on the linear variation regions of spin-polarization with bias are slight.

Spin Polarization of Rb and Cs np ^{2}P_{3/2} (n=5, 6) Atoms by Circularly Polarized Photoexcitation of a Transient Diatomic Molecule.

We report the selective population of Rb or Cs np ^{2}P_{3/2} (n=5, 6; F=4, 5) hyperfine states by the photodissociation of a transient, alkali-rare gas diatomic molecule. Circularly polarized (σ^{-}), amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) on the D_{2} line of Rb or Cs (780.0 and 852.1nm, respectively) is generated when Rb-Xe or Cs-Xe ground state collision pairs are photoexcited by a σ^{+}-polarized optical field having a wavelength within the D_{2} blue satellite continuum, associated with the B^{2}Σ_{1/2}^{+}←X^{2}Σ_{1/2}^{+} (free←free) transition of the diatomic molecule. The degree of spin polarization of Cs (6p ^{2}P_{3/2}), specifically, is found to be dependent on the interatomic distance (R) at which the excited complex is born, a result attributed to the structure of the B^{2}Σ_{1/2}^{+} state. For Cs-Xe atomic pairs, tuning the wavelength of the optical field from 843 to 848nm varies the degree of circular polarization of the ASE from 63% to almost unity because of the perturbation, in the 5≤R≤6 Å interval, of the ^{2}Σ_{1/2}^{+} potential by a dσ molecular orbital associated with a higher ^{2}Λ electronic state. Monitoring only the Cs 6p ^{2}P_{3/2} spin polarization reveals a previously unobserved interaction of CsXe (B^{2}Σ_{1/2}^{+}) with the lowest vibrational levels of a ^{2}Λ state derived from Cs (5d)+Xe. By inserting a molecular intermediate into the alkali atom excitation mechanism, these experiments realize electronic spin polarization through populating no more than two np ^{2}P_{3/2} hyperfine states, and demonstrate a sensitive spectroscopic probe of R-dependent state-state interactions and their impact on interatomic potentials.

Quantum interference effects in molecular spin hybrids

We have studied by means of low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) single molecular spin hybrids formed upon chemisorbing a polycyclic aromatic, threefold symmetric hydrocarbon molecule on Co(111) nanoislands. The spin-dependent hybridization between the Co $d$ states and the $\ensuremath{\pi}$ orbitals of the molecule leads to a spin-imbalanced electronic structure of the chemisorbed organic molecule. Spin-sensitive measurements reveal that the spin polarization shows intramolecular variations among the different aromatic rings in spite of the highly symmetric adsorption geometry promoted by symmetry matching of the threefold symmetric molecule and the sixfold symmetric Co(111) lattice. Hence the varying degree of spin polarization on the organic molecule does not stem from a different hybridization of the aromatic rings with the Co atoms, but is proposed to be a consequence of the superposition of the spin polarization of the molecule and the spatially modulated spin polarization of the spin-dependent quantum interference pattern of the Co(111) surface state.

Improved equation of state for finite‐temperature spin‐polarized electron liquids on the basis of Singwi–Tosi–Land–Sjölander approximation

An accurate expression for the exchange‐correlation free energy fxc of homogeneous electron fluids at finite temperatures is presented on the basis of Singwi–Tosi–Land–Sjölander (STLS) approximation. In addition to the derivation for the paramagnetic state, that for the ferromagnetic state is carried out afresh in which a correction in the strong Coulomb coupling regime is incorporated into the construction of the analytic expression as a function of the coupling constant and Fermi degeneracy. The fitting formula for fxc is then extended over any degree of spin polarization with the aid of available interpolation scheme. The proposed equation of state, called the iSTLS formula, shows reasonable agreement with the existing quantum Monte Carlo evaluations at finite temperatures in the paramagnetic state, thus giving a consensus for the thermodynamic functions between many‐body theories and computer simulations. On the other hand, the current status for the agreement between various evaluations of fxc is relatively unsatisfactory in the ferromagnetic state, suggesting the necessity for further investigations.

Spin filter properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons with substitutional Fe atoms

ABSTRACTThe spin filter capability of a (0,8) armchair graphene nanoribbon with Fe atoms at substitutional sites is investigated by density functional theory in combination with the non-equilibrium Green's function technique. For specific arrangements, a high degree of spin polarisation is achieved. These include a single substitution at an edge position or double substitution in the central sector of the transmission element. The possibility of switching between majority and minority spin polarisation by changing the double substitution geometry is predicted. Including the bias dependence of the transmission function proves to be essential for correct representation of the spin-resolved current-voltage profiles.

Effect of Rashba and Dresselhaus Spin–Orbit Couplings on Electron Spin Polarization in a Hybrid Magnetic–Electric Barrier Nanostructure

A theoretical study has been carried out on the spin-dependent electron transport in a hybrid magnetic–electric barrier nanostructure with both Rashba and Dresselhaus spin–orbit couplings, which can be experimentally realized by depositing a ferromagnetic strip and a Schottky metal strip on top of a semiconductor heterostructure. The spin–orbit coupling-dependent transmission coefficient, conductance, and spin polarization are calculated by solving the Schrodinger equation exactly with the help of the transfer-matrix method. We find that both the magnitude and sign of the electron spin polarization vary strongly with the spin–orbit coupling strength. Thus, the degree of electron spin polarization can be manipulated by properly adjusting the spin–orbit coupling strength, and such a nanosystem can be employed as a controllable spin filter for spintronics applications.

Observation of spin-polarized photoconductivity in (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs heterojunction without magnetic field

In the absent of magnetic field, we have observed the anisotropic spin polarization degree of photoconduction (SPD-PC) in (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs heterojunction. We think three kinds of mechanisms contribute to the magnetic related signal, (i) (Ga,Mn)As self-producing due to the valence band polarization, (ii) unequal intensity of left and right circularly polarized light reaching to GaAs layer to excite unequal spin polarized carriers in GaAs layer, and (iii) (Ga,Mn)As as the spin filter layer for spin transport from GaAs to (Ga,Mn)As. Different from the previous experiments, the influence coming from the Zeeman splitting induced by an external magnetic field can be avoided here. While temperature dependence experiment indicates that the SPD-PC is mixed with the magnetic uncorrelated signals, which may come from current induced spin polarization.

Chemical states of 3d transition metal impurities in a liquid lead-bismuth eutectic analyzed using first principles calculations.

Steels are easily corroded in a liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) because their components, such as Fe, Cr and Ni, exhibit a high solubility in the liquid LBE. To understand the reason for such a high solubility of these 3d transition metals, we have performed first-principles molecular dynamics calculations and analyzed the pair-correlation functions, electronic densities of states, and Bader charges and volumes of the 3d transition metals dissolved in the liquid LBE as impurities. The calculations show that the 4s and 3d orbitals of the 3d impurity atoms largely interact with the 6p band of the LBE, which generates bonding orbitals. We suggest that the high stability of 3d metals in the liquid LBE is caused by the interactions of the 4s and 3d orbitals with the 6p band. Spin polarization is induced by V, Cr, Mn, Fe and Co impurity atoms in a similar manner to the Slater-Pauling curve of solid transition metals, which exhibits a downward shift in the atomic number by approximately two. Based on the degree of spin polarization and the shifted trend of the Slater-Pauling curve, we suggest that Ni exhibits a higher solubility than Cr and Fe because of the differences in their interaction strengths between their 3d orbitals and the 6p band. In addition, the 4s and 3d orbitals of the 3d impurity atoms were found to interact more favorably with the Bi 6p band than the Pb 6p band, which is consistent with the fact that liquid Bi is more corrosive to steels than is liquid Pb.

Effects of pressure and strain on spin polarization of IrMnSb

A high degree of spin polarization in electron transport is one of the most sought-after properties of a material which can be used in spintronics—an emerging technology utilizing a spin degree of freedom in electronic devices. An ideal candidate to exhibit highly spin-polarized current would be a room temperature half-metal, a material which behaves as an insulator for one spin channel and as a conductor for the other spin channel. In this paper, we explore a semi-Heusler compound, IrMnSb, which has been reported to exhibit pressure induced half-metallic transition. We confirm that the bulk IrMnSb is a spin-polarized metal, with dominant contribution to electronic states at the Fermi energy from majority-spin electrons. Application of a uniform pressure shifts the Fermi level into the minority-spin energy gap, thus demonstrating pressure induced half-metallic transition. This behavior is explained by the reduction of the exchange splitting of the spin bands consistent with the Stoner model for itinerant magnetism. We find that the half-metallic transition is suppressed when instead of uniform pressure the bulk IrMnSb is exposed to biaxial strain. This suppression of half-metallicity is driven by the epitaxial strain induced tetragonal distortion, which lifts the degeneracy of the Mn 3d t2g and eg orbitals and reduces the minority-spin band gap under compressive strain, thus preventing half-metallic transition. Our calculations also indicate that in thin film geometry, surface states emerge in the minority-spin band gap, which has detrimental for practical applications impact on the spin polarization of IrMnSb.

A first-principle investigation of spin-gapless semiconductivity, half-metallicity, and fully-compensated ferrimagnetism property in Mn2ZnMg inverse Heusler compound

Recently, spin-gapless semiconductors (SGSs) and half-metallic materials (HMMs) have received considerable interest in the fields of materials sciences and solid-state physics because they can provide a high degree of spin polarization in electron transport. The results on band structure calculations reveal that the metallic fully-compensated ferrimagnet (M-FCF) Mn2ZnMg becomes half-metallic fully-compensated ferrimagnet (HM-FCF), fully-compensated ferrimagnetic semiconductor (FCF-S) and fully-compensated ferrimagnetic spin-gapless semiconductor (FCF-SGS) if the uniform strain applied. However, the metallic fully-compensated ferrimagnetism property of the Mn2ZnMg is robust to the tetragonalization. The structure stability based on the calculations of the cohesion energy and the formation energy of this compound has been tested. Furthermore, a magnetic state transition from antiferromagentic (AFM) state to non-magnetic (NM) state can be observed at the lattice constant of 5.20Å.

Spin polarization in the vicinity of quantum point contact with spin-orbit interaction

We have developed a novel technique for detection of spin polarization with a quantum dot weakly coupled to the objective device. The disturbance to the object in this technique is very small since the detection is performed through sampling of single electrons in the object with very slow rate. We have applied the method to a quantum point contact (QPC) under a spin-orbit interaction. A high degree of spin polarization in the vicinity of the QPC was detected when the conductance stayed on a plateau at a half of the unit conductance quantum ($G_{\rm q}/2\equiv e^2/h$), and also on another plateau at $2e^2/h$. On the half-quantum plateau, the degree of polarization $P$ decreased with the bias source-drain voltage of the QPC while $P$ increased on the single-quantum plateau, manifesting that different mechanisms of polarization were working on these plateaus. Very long spin relaxation times in the detector quantum dot probably due to dynamical nuclear spin polarization were observed. Anomalous decrease of $P$ around zero-bias was observed at a Kondo-like resonance peak.

Pinning of fermionic occupation numbers: Higher spatial dimensions and spin

The role of the generalized Pauli constraints (GPCs) in higher spatial dimensions and by incorporating spin degrees of freedom is systematically explored for a system of interacting fermions confined by a harmonic trap. Physical relevance of the GPCs is confirmed by analytical means for the ground state in the regime of weak couplings by finding its vector of natural occupation numbers close to the boundary of the allowed region. Such quasipinning is found to become weaker in the intermediate and strong coupling regime. The study of crossovers between different spatial dimensions by detuning the harmonic trap frequencies suggests that quasipinning is essentially an effect for systems with reduced spatial dimensionality. In addition, we find that quasipinning becomes stronger by increasing the degree of spin-polarization. Consequently, the number of states available around the Fermi level plays a key role for the occurrence of quasipinning. This suggests that quasipinning emerges from the conflict between energy minimization and fermionic exchange symmetry.

Effect of Quasi-Fermi Level on the Degree of Electron Spin Polarization in GaAs**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11504194 and 11274189, the Project of Shandong-Provincial Higher Educational Science and Technology Program under Grant No J14LJ06, and the Application Foundation Research Program of Qingdao under Grant No 14-2-4-101-jch.

With spin-polarized-dependent band gap renormalization effect taken into account, the energy-dependent evolution of electron spin polarization in GaAs is calculated at room temperature and at a low temperature of 10 K. We consider the exciting light with right-handed circular polarization, and the calculation results show that the degree of electron spin polarization is dependent strongly on the quasi-Fermi levels of |1/2〉 and | − 1/2〉 spin conduction bands. At room temperature, the degree of electron spin polarization decreases sharply from 1 near the bottom of the conduction band, and then increases to a stable value above the quasi-Fermi level of the | − 1/2〉 band. The greater the quasi-Fermi level is, the higher the degree of electron spin polarization with excessive energy above the quasi-Fermi level of the | − 1/2〉 band can be achieved. At low temperature, the degree of electron spin polarization decreases from 1 sharply near the bottom of the conduction band, and then increases with the excessive energy, and in particular, up to a maximum of 1 above the quasi-Fermi level of the |1/2〉 band.

Investigation of spin-gapless semiconductivity and half-metallicity in Ti2MnAl-based compounds

The increasing interest in spin-based electronics has led to a vigorous search for new materials that can provide a high degree of spin polarization in electron transport. An ideal candidate would act as an insulator for one spin channel and a conductor or semiconductor for the opposite spin channel, corresponding to the respective cases of half-metallicity and spin-gapless semiconductivity. Our first-principle electronic-structure calculations indicate that the metallic Heusler compound Ti2MnAl becomes half-metallic and spin-gapless semiconducting if half of the Al atoms are replaced by Sn and In, respectively. These electronic structures are associated with structural transitions from the regular cubic Heusler structure to the inverted cubic Heusler structure.

Interrelation Between the Structural, Magnetic and Magnetoresistive Properties of Double-Perovskite Sr2FeMoO6−δ Thin Films

Investigations of the formation conditions of Sr2FeMoO6−δ compound films, depending on the substrate temperature and sputtering rate with their subsequent thermal treatment, have made it possible to obtain the single-phase homogeneous films. The analysis of x-ray diffractometry and magnetic force microscopy data has made it possible to reveal the superstructural ordering of Fe and Mo cations, determine the spin polarization degree of conduction electrons and magnetic structure of the films. Studies of temperature and magnetic field dependences of magnetization in the zero-field cooling and field-cooling modes have shown the existence of magnetic regions with low coercitive force, which bears witness of the domination of the ferrimagnetic state at temperatures above the blocking temperature. Lower than this temperature, the nanosized grains are present, where homogeneous magnetization promotes the realization of a superparamagnetic state, which is “obscured” at the higher temperatures. The negative magnetoresistive effect, reaching 14% at low temperatures in a magnetic field of 8 T, is by its nature the giant magnetoresistance with monodirectional spin-polarized electrons.