Controllable spin-dependent transport in silicene superlattice

Based on the transfer-matrix method, we theoretically investigate the spin-dependent transport properties in magnetic silicene superlattice in the presence of extrinsic Rashba spin–orbit interaction (RSOI). It is found that the spin transmission probability and spin conductivities can be efficiently controlled by the number of magnetic barriers. As the number of magnetic barriers increases, spin conductivities strongly decrease, and reduce to zero in the large on-site potential difference between A and B sublattices (Δ_z) region. The results indicate that a magnetic silicene superlattice exhibits a remarkable wavevector-dependent spin filtering effect. Also, the magnetoresistance (MR) ratio exhibits an oscillatory behavior with the Fermi energy. The MR ratio can be tuned by the Fermi energy, number of magnetic barriers and extrinsic RSOI. Specifically, in the presence of magnetic field the spin polarization can be observed, and increases by increasing the magnetic field.