Spin-dependent Refraction at the Atomic Step of Transition-metal Dichalcogenides

Abstract

We theoretically propose a novel spin-dependent electronic transport mechanism in which the spin-unpolarized electron beam is split into different directions depending on spins at an atomic domain boundary in non-magnetic material. Specifically, we calculate the electronic transmission across a boundary between monolayer and bilayer of the transition metal dichalcogenide, and demonstrate that up-spin and down-spin electrons entering the boundary are refracted and collimated to opposite directions. The phenomenon is attributed to the strong spin-orbit interaction, the trigonally-warped Fermi surface, and the different crystal symmetries between the monolayer and bilayer systems. The spin-dependent refraction suggests a potential application for a spin splitter, which spatially separates up-spin and down-spin electrons simply by passing the electric current through the boundary.

arXiv comment6 pages, 6 figures

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• Valley qubit in gated MoS${}_2$ monolayer quantum dot
• Negative refraction in Weyl semimetals
• Spin relaxation in hole-doped transition metal dichalcogenide monolayer and bilayer with the crystal defects
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• Pseudo-spin triplet superconductivity in transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayers and Andreev reflection in the lateral heterostructures of 2$H$-NbSe${}_2$
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• Complete Spin and Valley Polarization by Total External Reflection from Potential Barriers in Bilayer Graphene and Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides
• Quantization Phenomena of critical Hamiltonians in 2D systems