Spin and valley half metal induced by staggered potential and magnetization in silicene

We investigate the electron transport in silicene with both staggered electric potential and magnetization; the latter comes from the magnetic proximity effect by depositing silicene on a magnetic insulator. It is shown that the silicene could be a spin and valley half metal under appropriate parameters when the spin–orbit interaction is considered; further, the filtered spin and valley could be controlled by modulating the staggered potential or magnetization. It is also found that in the spin-valve structure of silicene, not only can the antiparallel magnetization configuration significantly reduce the valve-structure conductance, but the reversing staggered electric potential can cause a high-performance magnetoresistance due to the spin and valley blocking effects. Our findings show that the silicene might be an ideal basis for the spin and valley filter analyzer devices.     

Electric tunable of electron spin polarization in hybrid magnetic-electric barrier structures

Electron spin-dependent transport properties have been theoretically investigated in two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) modulated by the magnetic field generated by a pair of anti-parallel magnetization ferromagnetic metal stripes and the electrostatic potential provided by a normal metal Schottky stripe. It is shown that the energy positions of the spin-polarization extremes and the width of relative spin conductance excess plateau could be significantly manipulated by the electrostatic potential strength and width, as well as its position relative to the FM stripes. These interesting features are believed useful for designing the electric voltage controlled spin filters.     

Nature of electron states and magneto-transport in a graphene geometry with a fractal distribution of holes

We investigate theoretically the spin-dependent electron transport in a Rashba quantum wire with rough edges. The charge and spin conductances are calculated as function of the electron energy and wire length by adopting the spin-resolved lattice Green function method. For a single disordered Rashba wire, it is found that the charge conductance quantization is destroyed by the edge disorder. However, a nonzero spin conductance can be generated and its amplitude can be manipulated by varying the wire length, which is attributed to the broken structure symmetries and the spin-dependent quantum interference induced by the rough boundaries. For a large ensemble of disordered Rashba wires, the average charge conductance decreases monotonically, however, the average spin conductance increases to a maximum value and then decreases, with increasing wire length. Further study shows that the influence of the rough edges on the charge and spin conductances can be eliminated by applying a perpendicular magnetic field to the wire. In addition, a very large magnitude of the spin conductance can be achieved when the electron energy lies between the two thresholds of each pair of subbands. These findings may not only benefit to further apprehend the transport properties of the Rashba low-dimensional systems but also provide some theoretical instructions to the application of spintronics devices.     

Interaction-driven spin precession in quantum-dot spin valves

We analyze spin-dependent transport through spin valves composed of an interacting quantum dot coupled to two ferromagnetic leads. The spin on the quantum dot and the linear conductance as a function of the relative angle theta of the leads' magnetization directions is derived to lowest order in the dot-lead coupling strength. Because of the applied bias voltage spin accumulates on the quantum dot, which for finite charging energy experiences a torque, resulting in spin precession. The latter leads to a nontrivial, interaction-dependent, theta dependence of the conductance. In particular, we find that the spin-valve effect is reduced for all theta not equal pi.     

Universal behaviors of magnon-mediated spin transport in disordered nonmagnetic metal-ferromagnetic insulator heterostructures

We numerically investigate magnon-mediated spin transport through nonmagnetic metal/ferromagnetic insulator (NM/FI) heterostructures in the presence of Anderson disorder, and discover universal behaviors of the spin conductance in both one-dimensional (1D) and 2D systems. In the localized regime, the variance of logarithmic spin conductance σ²(lnG_T) shows a universal linear scaling with its average ⟨lnG_T⟩, independent of Fermi energy, temperature, and system size in both 1D and 2D cases. In 2D, the competition between disorder-enhanced density of states at the NM/FI interface and disorder-suppressed spin transport leads to a non-monotonic dependence of average spin conductance on the disorder strength. As a result, in the metallic regime, average spin conductance is enhanced by disorder, and a new linear scaling between spin conductance fluctuation rms(G_T) and average spin conductance G_T is revealed which is universal at large system width. These universal scaling behaviors suggest that spin transport mediated by magnon in disordered 2D NM/FI systems belongs to a new universality class, different from that of charge conductance in 2D normal metal systems.     

Self-consistent calculation of spin transport and magnetization dynamics

A spin-polarized current transfers its spin-angular momentum to a local magnetization, exciting various types of current-induced magnetization dynamics. So far, most studies in this field have focused on the direct effect of spin transport on magnetization dynamics, but ignored the feedback from the magnetization dynamics to the spin transport and back to the magnetization dynamics. Although the feedback is usually weak, there are situations when it can play an important role in the dynamics. In such situations, simultaneous, self-consistent calculations of the magnetization dynamics and the spin transport can accurately describe the feedback. This review describes in detail the feedback mechanisms, and presents recent progress in self-consistent calculations of the coupled dynamics. We pay special attention to three representative examples, where the feedback generates non-local effective interactions for the magnetization after the spin accumulation has been integrated out. Possibly the most dramatic feedback example is the dynamic instability in magnetic nanopillars with a single magnetic layer. This instability does not occur without non-local feedback. We demonstrate that full self-consistent calculations generate simulation results in much better agreement with experiments than previous calculations that addressed the feedback effect approximately. The next example is for more typical spin valve nanopillars. Although the effect of feedback is less dramatic because even without feedback the current can make stationary states unstable and induce magnetization oscillation, the feedback can still have important consequences. For instance, we show that the feedback can reduce the linewidth of oscillations, in agreement with experimental observations. A key aspect of this reduction is the suppression of the excitation of short wavelength spin waves by the non-local feedback. Finally, we consider nonadiabatic electron transport in narrow domain walls. The non-local feedback in these systems leads to a significant renormalization of the effective nonadiabatic spin transfer torque. These examples show that the self-consistent treatment of spin transport and magnetization dynamics is important for understanding the physics of the coupled dynamics and for providing a bridge between the ongoing research fields of current-induced magnetization dynamics and the newly emerging fields of magnetization-dynamics-induced generation of charge and spin currents.     

Spin-Hall transport in a two-dimensional electron system with magnetic impurities

The spin Hall transport properties in a two-dimensional electron system with both Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and magnetic impurities are investigated. Electrons are scattered by impurities through an exchange interaction that leads to spin flip-flop processes and so changes the spin Hall effect induced by the SOC. The spin Hall conductance is calculated in a 4-terminal system using the Landauer-Buttiker formula and Green function approach. In comparison with the simulation results on nonmagnetic impurities doping systems, our results reveal that the spin Hall conductance is still nonzero in a system with a large density of magnetic impurities and a finite intensity of the exchange interaction between the electrons and impurities, and its sign may be altered when the doping density and interaction strength are large enough.     

半导体超晶格系统中的磁电调控电子自旋输运研究

通过采用转移矩阵方法求解自旋电子隧穿过程,理论研究了半导体超晶格系统中电子自旋输运的磁电调控行为.结果表明：仅对超晶格系统施以磁调制,隧穿系数将出现自旋分裂,随磁场增强,电导自旋极化率变大且展宽于费米能区;若选取不变磁场情况,同时施以间隔周期电场调制,超晶格的电子极化率将有更为显著地提高.进一步发现,随电场强度的改变,电子自旋输运行为显然存在两个明显不同区域,下自旋电子将在不同调制区域表现为不同的变化趋势.然而,若对周期磁超晶格施加间隔两周期的电调制,自旋电导输运的临界行为消失,电导极化率在高能区的共振峰 关键词： 半导体超晶格 自旋输运 磁电调控     

Geometric correlations and breakdown of mesoscopic universality in spin transport

We construct a unified semiclassical theory of charge and spin transport in chaotic ballistic and disordered diffusive mesoscopic systems with spin-orbit interaction. Neglecting dynamic effects of spin-orbit interaction, we reproduce the random matrix theory results that the spin conductance fluctuates universally around zero average. Incorporating these effects into the theory, we show that geometric correlations generate finite average spin conductances, but that they do not affect the charge conductance to leading order. The theory, which is confirmed by numerical transport calculations, allows us to investigate the entire range from the weak to the previously unexplored strong spin-orbit regime, where the spin rotation time is shorter than the momentum relaxation time.     

Spin-resolved edge states transport in a normal/ferromagnetic/normal topological insulator junction: The role of interface

The spin-resolved edge states transport in a normal/ferromagnetic/normal topological insulator (TI) junction is investigated numerically. It is shown that the transport properties of the hybrid junction strongly depend on the interface shape. For the junction with two sharp interfaces, a nonzero spin conductance can be generated besides the spin-split energy windows. Moreover, the axial symmetries of the in-plane spin conductance amplitude are broken. The underlying physics is attributed to the sharp-interface-induced quantum interference effect. However, for the hybrid junction with two smooth interfaces, a non-zero spin conductance can only be achieved in the spin-split energy windows. Further, the axial symmetries of the in-plane spin conductance amplitude recover. These findings may not only benefit to further apprehend the spin-dependent edge states transport in the hybrid TI junctions but also provide some theoretical bases to the application of the topological spintronics devices.     

ac Magnetization transport and power absorption in nonitinerant spin chains

We investigate the ac transport of magnetization in nonitinerant quantum systems such as spin chains described by the XXZ Hamiltonian. Using linear response theory, we calculate the ac magnetization current and the power absorption of such magnetic systems. Remarkably, the difference in the exchange interaction of the spin chain itself and the bulk magnets (i.e., the magnetization reservoirs), to which the spin chain is coupled, strongly influences the absorbed power of the system. This feature can be used in future spintronic devices to control power dissipation. Our analysis allows us to make quantitative predictions about the power absorption, and we show that magnetic systems are superior to their electronic counterparts.     

Electrical control of valley and spin polarized current and tunneling magnetoresistance in a silicene-based magnetic tunnel junction

We investigate the electronic transport in a silicene-based ferromagnetic metal/ferromagnetic insulator/ferromagnetic metal tunnel junction. The results show that the valley and spin transports are strongly dependent on local application of a vertical electric field and effective magnetization configurations of the ferromagnetic layers. In particular, it is found that the fully valley and spin polarized currents can be realized by tuning the external electric field. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that the tunneling magnetoresistance ratio in such a full magnetic junction of silicene is very sensitive to the electric field modulation.     

Spin Hall effect on edge magnetization and electric conductance of a 2D semiconductor strip

The intrinsic spin Hall effect on spin accumulation and electric conductance in a diffusive regime of a 2D electron gas has been studied for a 2D strip of a finite width. It is shown that the spin polarization near the flanks of the strip, as well as the electric current in the longitudinal direction, exhibit damped oscillations as a function of the width and strength of the Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction. Cubic terms of this interaction are crucial for spin accumulation near the edges. As expected, no effect on the spin accumulation and electric conductance have been found in case of Rashba spin-orbit interaction.     

Tunneling conductance through the half-metal/conical magnet/superconductor junctions in the adiabatic and non-adiabatic regimes: Self-consistent calculations

The tunneling conductance through the half-metal/conical magnet/superconductor (HM/CM/SC) junctions is investigated with the use of the Bogoliubov–de Gennes equations in the framework of Blonder–Tinkham–Klapwijk formalism. Due to the spin band separation in the HM, the conductance in the subgap region is mainly determined by the anomalous Andreev reflection, the probability of which strongly depends on the spin transmission in the CM layer. We show that the spins of electrons injected from the HM can be transmitted through the CM to the SC either adiabatically or non-adiabatically depending on the period of the spatial modulation of the exchange field. We find that the conductance in the subgap region oscillates as a function of the CM layer thickness wherein the oscillations transform from the irregular pattern in the non-adiabatic regime to the regular one in the adiabatic regime. For both adiabatic and non-adiabatic transport regimes the conductance is studied over a broad range of parameters determining the spiral magnetization in the CM. We find that in the non-adiabatic regime, the decrease of the exchange field amplitude in the CM leads to the emergence of the conductance peak for the particular CM thickness in agreement with recent experiments.     

Influence of Magnetization on the Spin Pumping Efficiency in a Ferromagnet–Normal Metal Bilayer Structure

The problem of spin current generation and transformation into electric signals in thin-film ferromagnet/nonmagnetic metal bilayer structures is investigated. This direction is of considerable scientific interest and promising for applications in spintronics. An LSMO/Pt structure consisting of an epitaxial film of ferromagnetic manganite La2/3Sr1/3O3 grown on a single-crystal NdGaO3 substrate and coated with a platinum film has been studied experimentally. The spin current was generated by the spin pumping method upon the excitation of a ferromagnetic resonance in the ferromagnetic layer and was detected by the electric voltage USP arising in the nonmagnetic metal layer due to the inverse spin Hall effect. Owing to its relatively low Curie temperature (~350 K), using LSMO allowed the influence of ferromagnetic-layer magnetization on the spin current generation to be studied in detail in the temperature range 100–350 K. In this case, the influence of the shape of the ferromagnetic resonance line, which is the convolution of homogeneous (Lorentzian) spin packets and inhomogeneous Gaussian broadening (Voigt model), was consistently taken into account. As a result of our analysis of all the parameters defining USP, we have obtained the temperature dependence of the mixed spin conductance, which has turned out to be approximately proportional to the ferromagnet magnetization squared. This result is compared with existing theoretical models.     

Dynamics of One‐Dimensional Electrons With Broken Spin–Charge Separation

Spin–charge separation is known to be broken in many physically interesting one‐dimensional (1D) and quasi‐1D systems with spin–orbit interaction because of which spin and charge degrees of freedom are mixed in collective excitations. Mixed spin–charge modes carry an electric charge and therefore can be investigated by electrical means. We explore this possibility by studying the dynamic conductance of a 1D electron system with image‐potential‐induced spin–orbit interaction. The real part of the admittance reveals an oscillatory behavior versus frequency that reflects the collective excitation resonances for both modes at their respective transit frequencies. By analyzing the frequency dependence of the conductance the mode velocities can be found and their spin–charge structure can be determined quantitatively.     

Spin-polarized transport in a δ-doped magnetic-barrier nanostructure

We theoretically investigate the electron spin transport properties through a δ-doped magnetic-barrier nanostructure, which can be realized experimentally by depositing two identical ferromagnetic stripes with the opposite in-plane magnetization on the top of a semiconductor heterostructure in parallel configuration and by using atomic layer doping technique. The δ-doping dependent transmission, conductance and spin polarization are calculated exactly by analytically solving Schrödinger equation of the spin electron. It is found that the electronic spin-polarized behavior in this device can be manipulated by changing the weight and/or the position of the δ-doping. Therefore, such a device can be used as a controllable spin filter, which may be helpful for spintronics applications.     

Persistent spin currents in mesoscopic Heisenberg rings

We show that at low temperatures T an inhomogeneous radial magnetic field with magnitude B gives rise to a persistent magnetization current around a mesoscopic ferromagnetic Heisenberg ring. Under optimal conditions, this spin current can be as large as gmicro(B)(T/ variant Planck's over 2pi )exp([-2pi(gmicro(B)B/delta)(1/2)], as obtained from leading-order spin-wave theory. Here g is the gyromagnetic factor, micro(B) is the Bohr magneton, and delta is the energy gap between the ground-state and the first spin-wave excitation. The magnetization current endows the ring with an electric dipole moment.     

Perspectives on spin hydrodynamics in ferromagnetic materials

The field of spin hydrodynamics aims to describe magnetization dynamics from a fluid perspective. For ferromagnetic materials, there is an exact mapping between the Landau-Lifshitz equation and a set of dispersive hydrodynamic equations. This analogy provides ample opportunities to explore novel magnetization dynamics and magnetization states that can lead to potential applications that rely entirely on magnetic materials, for example, long-distance transport of information. This article provides an overview of the theoretical foundations of spin hydrodynamics and their physical interpretation in the context of spin transport. We discuss other proposed applications for spin hydrodynamics as well as our view on challenges and future research directions.     

Inverse spin Hall effect in ITO/YIG exited by spin pumping and spin Seebeck experiments

Spin currents, which are excited in indium tin oxide(ITO)/yttrium iron garnet(YIG) by the methods of spin pumping and spin Seebeck effect, are investigated through the inverse spin Hall effect(ISHE). It is demonstrated that the ISHE voltage can be generated in ITO by spin pumping under both in-plane and out-of-plane magnetization configurations.Moreover, it is observed that the enhancement of spin Hall angle and interfacial spin mixing conductance can be achieved by an appropriate annealing process. However, the ISHE voltage is hardly seen in the presence of a longitudinal temperature gradient. The absence of the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect can be ascribed to the almost equal thermal conductivity of ITO and YIG and specific interface structure, or to the large negative temperature dependent spin mixing conductance.