The lack of some spatial symmetries in planar devices with Rashba spin-orbit interaction opens the possibility of producing spin polarized electrical currents in absence of external magnetic field or magnetic impurities. We study how the direction of the spin polarization of the current is related to spatial symmetries of the device. As an example of these relations we study numerically the spin-resolved current in graphene nanoribbons. Different configurations are explored and analyzed to demonstrate that graphene nanoflakes may be used as excellent spintronic devices in an all-electrical setup.
Motivated by recent discovery of strongly spin-orbit coupled two-dimensional (2D) electron gas near the surface of Rashba semiconductors BiTeX (X=Cl, Br, I), we calculate thermoelectric responses of spin polarization in 2D Rashba model using an exact solution of the linearized Boltzmann equation for elastic scattering. When the Fermi energy $E_{F}$ lies below the band crossing point we find a non-Edelstein electric-field induced spin polarization which is linear in $E_{F}$. We show that the Mott-like relation between spin polarizations induced by the temperature gradient and electric field bre…
We have studied spin-depend electron tunnelling through the Rashba barrier in a monolayer graphene lattice. The transfer matrix method, have been employed to obtain the spin dependent transport properties of the chiral particles. It is shown that graphene sheets in presence of Rashba spin-orbit barrier will act as an electron spin- inverter.
We calculate the efficiency of infrared optical spin injection in single-layer graphene with Rashba spin-orbit coupling and for in-plane magnetic field. The injection rate in the photon frequency range corresponding to the Rashba splitting is shown to be proportional to the ratio of the Zeeman and Rashba splittings. As a result, large spin polarization can be controllably achieved for experimentally available values of the spin-orbit coupling and in magnetic fields below 10 Tesla.
In the current work we have investigated the influence of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling on spin-current of a single layer gapped graphene. It was shown that the Rashba coupling has a considerable role in generation of the spin-current of vertical spins in mono-layer graphene. The behavior of the spin-current is determined by density of impurities. It was also shown that the spin-current of the system could increase by increasing the Rashba coupling strength and band-gap of the graphene and the sign of the spin-current could be controlled by the direction of the current-driving electric field.
Domain wall in bilayer graphene with Rashba spin-orbital coupling and staggered sublattice potentials, at the interface between two domains with different gated voltages, is studied. Varying type of zero-line modes are identified, including zero-line mode with pure spin filtering effect. The Y-shape current partition at the junction among three different domains are proposed.
Spin Hall effect due to random Rashba spin-orbit coupling in the two-dimensional honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms (graphene) is considered theoretically. Using the Green function method and diagrammatic technique we show that fluctuations of the Rashba interaction around zero average value give rise to nonzero spin Hall conductivity. Generally, the conductivity is not universal, but depends on the ratio of the total momentum and spin-flip relaxation rates.
Spin polarization induced by an external electric field in graphene is considered theoretically in the linear response regime. The graphene is assumed to be deposited on a substrate which leads to the spin-orbit interaction of Rashba type. The induced spin polarization is shown to be in the graphene plane and perpendicular to the electric field. However, the spin polarization changes sign when the Fermi level, whose position can be controlled by an external gate voltage, crosses the Dirac points.
We study the effect of anisotropy of the Rashba coupling on the extrinsic spin Hall effect due to spin-orbit active adatoms on graphene. In addition to the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling, a generalized anisotropic Rashba coupling arising from the breakdown of both mirror and hexagonal symmetries of pristine graphene is considered. We find that Rashba anisotropy can strongly modify the dependence of the spin Hall angle on carrier concentration. Our model provides a simple and general description of the skew scattering mechanism due to the spin-orbit coupling that is induced by proximity to large…
We discuss the electronic properties of graphene and graphene nanoribbons including "pseudo-Rashba" spin-orbit coupling. After summarizing the bulk properties, we first analyze the scattering behavior close to an infinite mass and zigzag boundary. For low energies, we observe strong deviations from the usual spin-conserving behavior at high energies such as reflection acting as spin polarizer or switch. This results in a spin polarization along the direction of the boundary due to the appearance of evanescent modes in the case of non-equilibrium or when there is no coherence between the two on…
Linear conductance of graphene-based p-n junctions with Rashba spin-orbit coupling is considered theoretically. A square potential step is used to model the junctions, while the coupling is introduced in terms of the Kane-Mele model (C.L. Kane and E.J. Mele, Phys.Rev.Lett. 95, 226801(2005)). The main objective is a description of electronic transport in junctions where Rashba parameter is nonuniform. Such a nonuniformity can appear when graphene is asymmetrically covered with atomic layers, or when Rashba coupling is strongly dependent on electric field. It is shown that conductance is signifi…
In this study, the Optical conductivity of substitutionary doped graphene is investigated in presence of the Rashba spin orbit coupling (RSOC). Calculations have been performed within the coherent potential approximation (CPA) beyond the Dirac cone approximation. Results of the current study demonstrate that the optical conductivity is increased by increasing the RSOC strength. Meanwhile it was observed that the anisotropy of the band energy results in a considerable anisotropic optical conductivity (AOC) in monolayer graphene. The sign and magnitude of this anisotropic conductivity was shown …
Within an effective Dirac theory the low-energy dispersions of monolayer graphene in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling and spin-degenerate bilayer graphene are described by formally identical expressions. We explore implications of this correspondence for transport by choosing chiral tunneling through pn and pnp junctions as a concrete example. A real-space Green's function formalism based on a tight-binding model is adopted to perform the ballistic transport calculations, which cover and confirm previous theoretical results based on the Dirac theory. Chiral tunneling in monolayer gra…
We analyze theoretically optical generation of a spin-polarized charge current (photogalvanic effect) and spin polarization in graphene with Rashba spin-orbit coupling. An external magnetic field is applied in the graphene plane, which plays a crucial role in the mechanism of current generation. We predict a highly efficient resonant-like photogalvanic effect in a narrow frequency range which is determined by the magnetic field. A relatively less efficient photogalvanic effect appears in a broader frequency range, determined by the electron concentration and spin-orbit coupling strength.
Electron optics exploits the analogies between rays in geometrical optics and electron trajectories, leading to interesting insights and potential applications. Graphene, with its two-dimensionality and photon-like behavior of its charge carriers, is the perfect candidate for the exploitation of electron optics. We show that a circular gate-controlled region in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit interaction in graphene may indeed behave as a Veselago electronic lens but with two different indices of refraction. We demonstrate that this birefringence results in complex caustics patterns for a ci…
We investigate the effect that the intrinsic spin-orbit and the inter- and intra-layer Rashba interactions have on the energy spectrum of either an unbiased or a biased graphene bilayer. We find that under certain conditions, a Dirac cone is formed out of a parabolic band and that it is possible to create a "Mexican hat"-like energy dispersion in an unbiased bilayer. In addition, in the presence of only an intralayer Rashba interaction, the K (K') point splits into four distinct ones, contrarily to the case in single-layer graphene, where the splitting also takes place, but the low-energy disp…
We consider twisted bilayer and trilayer graphene in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling and explore the physics of Moiré spintronics. The electronic charge density has a sharp step right at the magic angles $θ_m$. As a result, local spin observables (polarization and equilibrium spin currents) have sharp peaks (of width about a small fraction of 1$^\circ$) as a function of the twist angle $θ$, and abrupt sign reversals at $θ_m$. Thereby, the magic angle can be determined in an unprecedented accuracy. In the first chiral limit, the spin currents vanish, but the peculiar pattern of the p…
Thermoelectric transport in strongly spin-orbit coupled two-dimensional Rashba system is studied using the exact solution of the linearized Boltzmann equation. Some unusual transport behaviors are revealed. We show that the electrical conductivity takes a Drude form when the Fermi energy $E_{F}$ is above the band crossing point, but a non-Drude form which is a quadratic function of $E_{F}$ when $E_{F}$ lies below the band crossing point. The Mott relation breaks down when $E_{F}$ lies in the vicinity of the band crossing point. It is shown that the thermopower and thermoelectric figure of meri…
We present a proposal for an adiabatic quantum pump based on a graphene monolayer patterned by electrostatic gates and operated in the low-energy Dirac regime. The setup under investigation works in the presence of inhomogeneous spin-orbit interactions of intrinsic- and Rashba-type and allows to generate spin polarized coherent current. A local spin polarized current is induced by the pumping mechanism assisted by the spin-double refraction phenomenon.
A major impediment towards realizing technologies based on the emerging principles of antiferromagnetic spintronics is the shortage of suitable materials. In this paper, we propose a design of polar|nonpolar heterostructures of perovskite oxides, where a single unit cell of SrIrO3 is sandwiched between a thin film of LaAlO3 and a substrate of SrTiO3. Our calculations within the framework of density-functional theory + Hubbard U + spin-orbit coupling reveal a two-dimensional conducting layer with electron and hole pockets at the interface, exhibiting a strong anisotropic Rashba-Dresselhaus effe…
We study the electronic band structure of monolayer graphene when Rashba spin-orbit coupling is present. We show that if the Rashba spin-orbit coupling is stronger than the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling, the low energy bands undergo trigonal-warping deformation and that for energies smaller than the Lifshitz energy, the Fermi circle breaks up into separate parts. The effect is very similar to what happens in bilayer graphene at low energies. We discuss the possible experimental implications, such as threefold increase of the minimal conductivity for low electron densities, the wavenumber depen…
We consider a disordered graphene layer with anisotropic Rashba spin-orbit coupling subjected to a longitudinal electric field. Using the linear response theory we calculate current-induced spin polarization including in-plane normal and parallel components with respect to the electric field direction. Unlike the case of isotropic Rashba spin-orbit where the normal component of spin polarization is linear in terms of Fermi energy around the Dirac point, anisotropic Rashba spin-orbit can result in non-linear dependence of this component at such energies within the Lifshitz points. Furthermore, …
We propose an experimental realization of the Spin Hall effect in graphene by illuminating a graphene sheet on top of a substrate with circularly polarized monochromatic light. The substrate induces a controllable Rashba type spin-orbit coupling which breaks the spin-degeneracy of the Dirac cones but it is gapless. The circularly polarized light induces a gap in the spectrum and turns graphene into a Floquet topological insulator with spin dependent edge states. By analyzing the high and intermediate frequency regimes, we find that in both parameter limits, the spin-Chern number can be tuned b…
Inversion symmetry in bilayer graphene allows for layered opposite Rashba spin-orbit coupling (LO-RSOC) -- the situation when the RSOC has the same magnitude but the opposite sign in two coupled spatially separated layers. We show that the LO-RSOC results in the loss of spin chirality in the momentum space, in contrast to the common uniform RSOC. This chirality loss makes it difficult to experimentally establish whether the LO-RSOC (on the scale of 10 meV) exists, because the band structure is insensitive to it. To solve this problem, we propose to identify the LO-RSOC either by gating to brea…
We theoretically study electronic transport through a region with inhomogeneous Rashba spin-orbit (RSO) coupling placed between two normal regions in a monolayer graphene. The inhomogeneous RSO region is characterized by linearly varying RSO strength within its borders and constant RSO strength in the central region. We calculate the transmission properties within the transfer matrix approach. It is shown that the amplitude of conductance oscillations reduces and at the same time the magnitude of conductance increases with increasing border thickness. We also investigate how the Fano factor ca…
A key concept in the emerging field of spintronics is the gate voltage or electric field control of spin precession via the effective magnetic field generated by the Rashba spin orbit interaction. Here, we demonstrate the generation and tuning of electric field induced Rashba spin orbit interaction in InAs nanowires where a strong electric field is created either by a double gate or a solid electrolyte surrounding gate. In particular, the electrolyte gating enables six-fold tuning of Rashba coefficient and nearly three orders of magnitude tuning of spin relaxation time within only 1 V of gate …
We propose a photoexcitation scheme for pure spin current generation in graphene subject to a Rashba spinorbit coupling. Although excitation using circularly-polarized light does not result in optical orientation of spins in graphene unless an additional magnetic field is present, we show that excitation with linearly-polarized light at normal incidence yields spin current injection without magnetic field. Spins are polarized within the graphene plane and are displaced in opposite directions, with no net charge displacement. The direction of the spin current is determined by the linear polariz…
Starting from a microscopic tight-binding model and using second order perturbation theory, we derive explicit expressions for the intrinsic and Rashba spin-orbit interaction induced gaps in the Dirac-like low-energy band structure of an isolated graphene sheet. The Rashba interaction parameter is first order in the atomic carbon spin-orbit coupling strength $ξ$ and first order in the external electric field $E$ perpendicular to the graphene plane, whereas the intrinsic spin-orbit interaction which survives at E=0 is second order in $ξ$. The spin-orbit terms in the low-energy effective Hamilto…
The effect of Rashba spin-orbit interaction and anisotropic strain on the electronic, optical and thermodynamic properties of artificial graphene-like superlattice composed of InAs-GaAs quantum dots has been considered theoretically. The electronic energy dispersions have been obtained using Green's function formalism in combination with Fourier transformation to the reciprocal space and an exact diagonalization technique. We have observed a splitting of Dirac points and appearance of edditional Dirac-like points due to the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. Breaking of the hexagonal symmetry of t…
Using the Kubo formalism, the magnetic properties of the system in the linear regime have been investigated. Mainly the effect of non-magnetic substrate on the spin susceptibility is calculated. Results show that the Rashba coupling interaction has a central role in the magnetic response function of the system and it is really remarkable since this type of spin orbit coupling can be effectively controlled by an external gate voltage. Most importantly it was shown that, in the presence of the Rashba interaction a magnetic phase transition could be observed. This magnetic phase corresponds to a …
We take a wide-angle view of the problem of monolayer graphene (MLG) where spin-degeneracy lifting is assumed to be possible by wedging in the tunable Rashba spin-orbit coupling(RSOC) and the sub-lattice staggered potential. We next consider the AB-stacked bi-layer graphene (BLG) system (the A-carbon of the upper sheet lying on top of the B-carbon of the lower one) and assume that a perpendicular electric field is created by the external gates deposited on the BLG surface. This system exhibits the occurrence of trigonal warping due to a (skew) interlayer hopping leading to the well-known Lifsh…
We study theoretically the minimal conductivity of monolayer graphene in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling. The Rashba spin-orbit interaction causes the low-energy bands to undergo trigonal-warping deformation and for energies smaller than the Lifshitz energy, the Fermi circle breaks up into parts, forming four separate Dirac cones. We calculate the minimal conductivity for an ideal strip of length $L$ and width $W$ within the Landauer--Büttiker formalism in a continuum and in a tight binding model. We show that the minimal conductivity depends on the relative orientation of the sampl…
Search of novel two-dimensional giant Rashba semiconductors is a crucial step in the development of the forthcoming nano-spintronics technology. Using first-principle calculations, we study a stable two-dimensional crystal phase of BiSb having buckled honeycomb lattice geometry, which is yet unexplored. The phonon, room temperature molecular dynamics and elastic constant calculations verify the dynamical and mechanical stability of the monolayer at 0~K and at room temperature. The calculated electronic bandstructure reveals the direct bandgap semiconducting nature of BiSb monolayer with presen…
We show that periodically folded graphene sheets with enhanced spin-orbit interaction due to curvature effects can carry spin polarized currents and have gaps in the electronic spectrum in the presence of weak magnetic fields. Our results indicate that such origami-like structures can be used efficiently in spintronic applications.
In this article, the modified Kane-Mele Hamiltonian is derived for graphene with wedge disclination and spin orbit couplings (intrinsic and Rashba). The wedge disclination changes the flat lattice into the conical lattice and hence modifies the spin orbit couplings. The Hamiltonian is exactly solved for the intrinsic spin orbit interaction and perturbatively for the Rashba spin orbit interaction. It is shown that there exists the Kramer's degenerate midgap localized spin separated fluxon states around the defect. These zero energy spin separated states occur at the external magnetic flux value…
We investigate the spin-resolved transport in a two-terminal zigzag graphene nanoribbon device with two independent gate induced Rashba spin-orbit coupling regions and in the presence of strain. By employing a recursive Green's function technique to the tight-binding model for the graphene nanoribbon, we calculate the spin-resolved conductance of the system. We show that by switching the sign of one of the gates it is possible to select which spin component will be transmitted. Moreover, our results show that an uniaxial strain applied to the nanoribbon plays a significant role in the transpor…
Generating spintronic devices has been a goal for the nano-science. We have used density function theory to determine magnetic phases of single layer and bilayer lithium doped graphene nanoflakes. We have introduced graphene flakes as single molecular magnets, spin on/off switches and spintronic memory devices. To aim this goal, adsorption energies, spin polarizations, electronic gaps, magnetic properties and robustness of spin-polarized states have been studied in the presence of dopants and second layers. We find that for bilayer SMMs with two layers of different sizes the highest occupied m…
We study graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with armchair edges in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI). We impose the boundary conditions on the tight binding Hamiltonians for bulk graphene with RSOI by means of a sine transform and study in detail the influence of RSOI on the spectra and the spin polarization. We show that the spin polarization perpendicular to the GNR changes sign when reversing the momentum along the GNR if the bands are coupled by strong RSOI. Furthermore, we derive a linearized approximation to the RSOI Hamiltonian and find that only the neighboring modes of an …
We investigate the production of spin-polarized currents in corrugated graphene nanoribbons. Such corrugations are modeled as multiple regions with Rashba spin-orbit interactions, where concave and convex curvatures are treated as Rashba regions with opposite signs. Numerical examples for different separated Rashba-zone geometries calculated within the tight-binding approximation are provided. Remarkably, the spin-polarized current in a system with several Rashba areas can be enhanced with respect to the case with a single Rashba part of the same total area. The enhancement is larger for confi…
We study forward scattering of 2D massless Dirac electrons at Fermi energy {\varepsilon} > 0 in single layer graphene through a 1D rectangular barrier of height {u_0} in the presence of uniform Rashba spin-orbit coupling (of strength λ). The role of the Klein paradox in graphene spintronics is thereby exposed. It is shown that (1) For {\varepsilon} - 2λ < {u_0}< {\varepsilon} + 2λ there is partial Klein tunneling, wherein the transmission is bounded by 1 and, quite remarkably, for small λ > {λ_0} {\approx} 0.1 meV, the transmission nearly vanishes when the scattering energy equals the barrier …
Manipulating the electron spin with the aid of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is an indispensable element of spintronics. Electrostatically gating a material with strong SOC results in an effective magnetic field which can in turn be used to govern the electron spin. In this work, we report the existence and electrostatic tunability of Rashba SOC in multilayer InSe. We observed a gate-voltage-tuned crossover from weak localization (WL) to weak antilocalization (WAL) effect in quantum transport studies of InSe, which suggests an increasing SOC strength. Quantitative analyses of magneto-transport stu…
Thanks to its intrinsic ability to preserve spin coherence, graphene is a prime material for spintronics. In this review article, we summarize recent achievements related to spintronics in graphene quantum dots and motivate this field from a spintronics and a materials science point of view. We focus on theory but also discuss recent experiments. The main sources of spin decoherence are interactions with lattice excitations and the hyperfine interaction with present nuclear spins. We explain effective spin-phonon coupling in detail and present a generic power law for the spin relaxation time T…
We study the Bloch spectrum and spin physics of 2D massless Dirac electrons in single layer graphene subject to a one dimensional periodic Kronig-Penney potential and Rashba spin-orbit coupling. The Klein paradox exposes novel features in the band dispersion and in graphene spintronics. In particular it is shown that: (1) The Bloch energy dispersion $\veps(p)$ has unusual structure: There are {\it two Dirac points} at Bloch momenta $\pm p \ne 0$ and a narrow band emerges between the wide valence and conduction bands. (2) The charge current and the spin density vector vanish. (3) Yet, all the n…
Graphene consists in a single-layer carbon crystal where 2$p_z$ electrons display a linear dispersion relation in the vicinity of the Fermi level, conveniently described by a massless Dirac equation in $2+1$ spacetime. Spin-orbit effects open a gap in the band structure and offer perspectives for the manipulation of the conducting electrons spin. Ways to manipulate spin-orbit couplings in graphene have been generally assessed by proximity effects to metals that do not compromise the mobility of the unperturbed system and are likely to induce strain in the graphene layer. In this work we explor…
Graphene-based materials show promise for spintronic applications due to their potentially large spin coherence length. On the other hand, because of their small intrinsic spin-orbit interaction, an external magnetic source is desirable in order to perform spin manipulation. Because of the flat nature of graphene, the proximity interaction with a ferromagnetic insulator (FI) surface seems a natural way to introduce magnetic properties into graphene. Exploiting the peculiar electronic properties of bilayer graphene coupled with FIs, we show that it is possible to devise very efficient gate-tuna…
We intercalate a van der Waals heterostructure of graphene and hexagonal Boron Nitride with Au, by encapsulation, and show that Au at the interface is two dimensional. A charge transfer upon current annealing indicates redistribution of Au and induces splitting of the graphene bandstructure. The effect of in plane magnetic field confirms that splitting is due to spin-splitting and that spin polarization is in the plane, characteristic of a Rashba interaction with magnitude approximately 25 meV. Consistent with the presence of intrinsic interfacial electric field we show that the splitting can …
We show how the magnetization of nano-objects can be efficiently regulated. Several types of nanosystems are considered: magnetics nanomolecules, magnetic nanoclusters, polarized nanomolecules, and magnetic graphene. These nano-objects and the structures composed of them enjoy many common properties, with the main difference being in the type of particle interactions. The possibility of governing spin dynamics is important for spintronics.
We study analytically and numerically spin effects in MoS_2 monolayer armchair quantum wires and quantum dots. The interplay between intrinsic and Rashba spin orbit interactions induced by an electric field leads to helical modes, giving rise to spin filtering in time-reversal invariant systems. The Rashba spin orbit interaction can also be generated by spatially varying magnetic fields. In this case, the system can be in a helical regime with nearly perfect spin polarization. If such a quantum wire is brought into proximity to an s-wave superconductor, the system can be tuned into a topologic…
Intercalation of Au can produce giant Rashba-type spin-orbit splittings in graphene but this has not yet been achieved on a semiconductor substrate. For graphene/SiC(0001), Au intercalation yields two phases with different doping. Here, we report the preparation of an almost pure p-type graphene phase after Au intercalation. We observe a 100 meV Rashba-type spin-orbit splitting at 0.9 eV binding energy. We show that this giant splitting is due to hybridization and much more limited in energy and momentum space than for Au-intercalated graphene on Ni.
In this work, we have studied the spin-dependent ballistic transport and anomalous quantum tunnelling in Bilayer Graphene (BLG) hybrid connected to two Rashba-Zeeman (RZ) leads under an external electric biasing. We investigated the transmission and conductance for the proposed system using scattering matrix formalism and Landauer - Buttiker formula considering a double delta-like barrier under a set of experimentally viable parameters. We found that the transmission characteristics are notably different for up and down spin incoming electrons depending upon the strength of magnetization. More…
We present a theoretical study of the bandstructure and Landau levels in bilayer graphene at low energies in the presence of a transverse magnetic field and Rashba spin-orbit interaction in the regime of negligible trigonal distortion. Within an effective low energy approach (Löwdin partitioning theory) we derive an effective Hamiltonian for bilayer graphene that incorporates the influence of the Zeeman effect, the Rashba spin-orbit interaction, and inclusively, the role of the intrinsic spin-orbit interaction on the same footing. Particular attention is spent to the energy spectrum and Landau…
Quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) is a fundamental quantum transport phenomenon in condensed matter physics. Until now, the only experimental realization of the QAHE has been observed for Cr/V-doped (Bi,Sb)$_2$Te$_3$ but at extremely low observational temperature, thereby limiting its potential application in dissipationless quantum electronics. Employing first-principles calculations, we study the electronic structures of graphene codoped with 5\textit{d} transition metal and boron (B) atoms based on a compensated \textit{n}--\textit{p} codoping scheme. Our findings are as follows. 1) The …
Zigzag edges of the honeycomb structure of graphene exhibit magnetic polarization making them attractive as building blocks for spintronic devices. Here, we show that devices with zigzag edged triangular antidots perform essential spintronic functionalities, such as spatial spin-splitting or spin filtering of unpolarized incoming currents. Near-perfect performance can be obtained with optimized structures. The device performance is robust against substantial disorder. The gate-voltage dependence of transverse resistance is qualitatively different for spin-polarized and spin-unpolarized devices…
We present a unified treatment of Zitterbewegung phenomena for a wide class of systems including spintronic, graphene, and superconducting systems. We derive an explicit expression for the time-dependence of the position operator of the quasiparticles which can be decomposed into a mean part and an oscillatory term. The latter corresponds to the Zitterbewegung. To apply our result for different systems one needs to use only vector algebra instead of the more complicated operator algebra.
Ferromagnetic materials are the widely used source of spin-polarized electrons in spintronic devices, which are controlled by external magnetic fields or spin-transfer torque methods. However, with increasing demand for smaller and faster spintronic components, utilization of spin-orbit phenomena provides promising alternatives. New materials with unique spin textures are highly desirable since all-electric creation and control of spin polarization is expected, where the strength, as well as an arbitrary orientation of the polarization, can be defined without the use of a magnetic field. In th…
We report the observation of current-induced spin polarization, the Rashba-Edelstein effect (REE), and its Onsager reciprocal phenomenon, the spin galvanic effect (SGE), in a few-layer graphene/2H-TaS2 heterostructure at room temperature. Spin-sensitive electrical measurements unveil full spin-polarization reversal by an applied gate voltage. The observed gate-tunable charge-to-spin conversion is explained by the ideal work function mismatch between 2H-TaS2 and graphene, which allows strong interface-induced Bychkov-Rashba interaction with a spin-gap reaching 70 meV, while keeping the Dirac na…