Chirality-induced Spin Selectivity in a Two-terminal Semiconductor Device

ORAL

Abstract

Electrical generation of spin polarization in semiconductors is of great interest for the device potential in spintronics. One such mechanism is chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS), with which structural chirality leads to different electric conductivities for electrons of opposite spins. CISS has been widely reported for chiral molecule assemblies on metal surfaces. However, theoretical understanding of the microscopic mechanism and manifestation of CISS in specific device structures remain controversial.1,2 Here, we report direct evidence of CISS in two-terminal devices of heterojunctions of (Ga,Mn)As/AHPA-L molecules/Au. The (Ga,Mn)As layer acts as a spin analyzer for electrons injected from the Au electrode through the AHPA-L monolayer. The CISS of AHPA-L and spin injection into the (Ga,Mn)As are manifested as sharp changes in the junction conductance at the coercive fields of the (Ga,Mn)As. The observations provide a definitive signature of CISS-induced spin valve effect in a two-terminal device. Theoretical implications of the effect and its bias dependence will be discussed.
1X. Yang, et al., Phys. Rev. B 99, 24418 (2019).
2S. Dalum and P. Hedegård, Nano Lett. 19, 5253 (2019).

*Work supported by NSF grant DMR-1905843.

Presenters

  • Tianhan Liu

    • Department of Physics, Florida State University
    • Florida State Univ
    • Physics, Florida State University

Authors

  • Tianhan Liu

    • Department of Physics, Florida State University
    • Florida State Univ
    • Physics, Florida State University
  • Xiaolei Wang

    • Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Hailong Wang

    • Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Gang Shi

    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Fan Gao

    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Honglei Feng

    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Haoyun Deng

    • Department of Physics, Florida State University
    • Florida State Univ
    • Physics, Florida State University
  • Longqian Hu

    • Physics, Florida State University
  • Eric Lochner

    • Physics, Florida State University
  • Pedro Schlottmann

    • Department of Physics, Florida State University
    • Florida State Univ
    • Physics, Florida State University
  • Stephan Von Molnar

    • Physics, Florida State University
  • Yongqing Li

    • Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    • Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Jianhua Zhao

    • Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Peng Xiong

    • Department of Physics, Florida State University
    • Florida State Univ
    • Physics, Florida State University