Tuning spin-charge interconversion with quantum confinement in ultrathin Bi/Ge(111) films

Abstract

Spin-charge interconversion (SCI) phenomena have attracted a growing interest in the field of spintronics as means to detect spin currents or manipulate the magnetization of ferromagnets. The key ingredients to exploit these assets are a large conversion efficiency, the scalability down to the nanometer scale and the integrability with opto-electronic and spintronic devices. Here we show that, when an ultrathin Bi film is epitaxially grown on top of a Ge(111) substrate, quantum size effects arising in nanometric Bi islands drastically boost the SCI efficiency, even at room temperature. Using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spin- and angle-resolved photoemission (S-ARPES) we obtain a clear picture of the film morphology, crystallography and electronic structure. We then exploit the Rashba-Edelstein effect (REE) and inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect (IREE) to directly quantify the SCI efficiency using optical and electrical spin injection.

arXiv comment18 pages, 5 figures

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• Inverse Edelstein Effect
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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Large Rashba unidirectional magnetoresistance in the Fe/Ge(111) interface states
• ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ Spin Hopf Insulator: Helical Hinge States and Returning Thouless Pump
• Sizable spin-transfer torque in Bi/Ni80Fe20 bilayer film
• Spin Hall and Edelstein effects in a ballistic quantum dot with Rashba spin-orbit coupling
• Charge-to-spin conversion in epitaxial and polycrystalline Bi and Bi/Ag layers