Photoinduced pure spin current injection in graphene with Rashba spin-orbit interaction

Abstract

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 polarization axis of the light, and the injection rate is proportional to the intensity. The technique is tunable via an applied bias voltage and is accessible over a wide frequency range. We predict a spin current polarization as high as 75% for photon frequencies comparable to the Rashba frequency. Spin current injection via optical methods removes the need for ferromagnetic contacts, which have been identified as a possible source of spin scattering in electrical spin injection in graphene.

arXiv comment6 pages, 5 figures

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• Ab initio spin-flip conductance of hydrogenated graphene nanoribbons: Spin-orbit interaction and scattering with local impurity spins
• Antiferromagnetic spin valve from heterostructure of two-dimensional hexagonal crystals
• Switchable enhanced spin photocurrent in Rashba and cubic Dresselhaus ferroelectric semiconductors
• Spintronics with graphene quantum dots
• Enhanced photogalvanic effect in graphene due to Rashba spin-orbit coupling
• Charge and spin photocurrents in the Rashba model
• The influence of anisotropic Rashba spin-orbit coupling on current-induced spin polarization in graphene
• Optical injection of a spin current into a zigzag nanoribbon of monolayer MoS2 with antiferromagnetic Kekule distortion