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Electrical Detection of Charge-to-spin and Spin-to-Charge Conversion in a Topological Insulator Bi(2)Te(3) Using BN/Al(2)O(3) Hybrid Tunnel Barrier

One of the most striking properties of three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) is spin-momentum locking, where the spin is locked at right angles to momentum and hence an unpolarized charge current creates a net spin polarization. Alternatively, if a net spin is injected into the TI surface s...

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Autores principales: Li, C. H., van ‘t Erve, O. M. J., Yan, C., Li, L., Jonker, B. T.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6035191/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29980749
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28547-y
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author Li, C. H.
van ‘t Erve, O. M. J.
Yan, C.
Li, L.
Jonker, B. T.
author_facet Li, C. H.
van ‘t Erve, O. M. J.
Yan, C.
Li, L.
Jonker, B. T.
author_sort Li, C. H.
collection PubMed
description One of the most striking properties of three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) is spin-momentum locking, where the spin is locked at right angles to momentum and hence an unpolarized charge current creates a net spin polarization. Alternatively, if a net spin is injected into the TI surface state system, it is distinctively associated with a unique carrier momentum and hence should generate a charge accumulation, as in the so-called inverse Edelstein effect. Here using a Fe/Al(2)O(3)/BN tunnel barrier, we demonstrate both effects in a single device in Bi(2)Te(3): the electrical detection of the spin accumulation generated by an unpolarized current flowing through the surface states, and that of the charge accumulation generated by spins injected into the surface state system. This work is the first to utilize BN as part of a hybrid tunnel barrier on TI, where we observed a high spin polarization of 93% for the TI surfaces states. The reverse spin-to-charge measurement is an independent confirmation that spin and momentum are locked in the surface states of TI, and offers additional avenues for spin manipulation. It further demonstrates the robustness and versatility of electrical access to the spin system within TI surface states, an important step towards its utilization in TI-based spintronics devices.
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spelling pubmed-60351912018-07-12 Electrical Detection of Charge-to-spin and Spin-to-Charge Conversion in a Topological Insulator Bi(2)Te(3) Using BN/Al(2)O(3) Hybrid Tunnel Barrier Li, C. H. van ‘t Erve, O. M. J. Yan, C. Li, L. Jonker, B. T. Sci Rep Article One of the most striking properties of three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) is spin-momentum locking, where the spin is locked at right angles to momentum and hence an unpolarized charge current creates a net spin polarization. Alternatively, if a net spin is injected into the TI surface state system, it is distinctively associated with a unique carrier momentum and hence should generate a charge accumulation, as in the so-called inverse Edelstein effect. Here using a Fe/Al(2)O(3)/BN tunnel barrier, we demonstrate both effects in a single device in Bi(2)Te(3): the electrical detection of the spin accumulation generated by an unpolarized current flowing through the surface states, and that of the charge accumulation generated by spins injected into the surface state system. This work is the first to utilize BN as part of a hybrid tunnel barrier on TI, where we observed a high spin polarization of 93% for the TI surfaces states. The reverse spin-to-charge measurement is an independent confirmation that spin and momentum are locked in the surface states of TI, and offers additional avenues for spin manipulation. It further demonstrates the robustness and versatility of electrical access to the spin system within TI surface states, an important step towards its utilization in TI-based spintronics devices. Nature Publishing Group UK 2018-07-06 /pmc/articles/PMC6035191/ /pubmed/29980749 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28547-y Text en © The Author(s) 2018 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Article
Li, C. H.
van ‘t Erve, O. M. J.
Yan, C.
Li, L.
Jonker, B. T.
Electrical Detection of Charge-to-spin and Spin-to-Charge Conversion in a Topological Insulator Bi(2)Te(3) Using BN/Al(2)O(3) Hybrid Tunnel Barrier
title Electrical Detection of Charge-to-spin and Spin-to-Charge Conversion in a Topological Insulator Bi(2)Te(3) Using BN/Al(2)O(3) Hybrid Tunnel Barrier
title_full Electrical Detection of Charge-to-spin and Spin-to-Charge Conversion in a Topological Insulator Bi(2)Te(3) Using BN/Al(2)O(3) Hybrid Tunnel Barrier
title_fullStr Electrical Detection of Charge-to-spin and Spin-to-Charge Conversion in a Topological Insulator Bi(2)Te(3) Using BN/Al(2)O(3) Hybrid Tunnel Barrier
title_full_unstemmed Electrical Detection of Charge-to-spin and Spin-to-Charge Conversion in a Topological Insulator Bi(2)Te(3) Using BN/Al(2)O(3) Hybrid Tunnel Barrier
title_short Electrical Detection of Charge-to-spin and Spin-to-Charge Conversion in a Topological Insulator Bi(2)Te(3) Using BN/Al(2)O(3) Hybrid Tunnel Barrier
title_sort electrical detection of charge-to-spin and spin-to-charge conversion in a topological insulator bi(2)te(3) using bn/al(2)o(3) hybrid tunnel barrier
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6035191/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29980749
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28547-y
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