量子点体系中自旋过滤、自旋流产生和自旋注入

自旋电子学是一门新兴的交叉学科,其中心主题就是对固体电子系统中电子的自旋自由度进行有效地操作和控制.量子点体系中的自旋效应近期受到了理论和实验较多的关注.本文着重介绍了自旋轨道耦合效应对量子点体系输运性质的影响,探讨了怎样利用自旋轨道耦合效应来实现对自旋的有效过滤和纯自旋流产生.基于四铁磁端双量子点体系中电子的交换相互作用机制,指出了一种可以显著提高从铁磁金属到半导体量子点自旋注入效率的新方法.     

三终端量子点环中的自旋极化输运

利用非平衡态格林函数方法,研究了一个存在局域Rashba自旋轨道耦合作用的三电极量子点环结构中的电子输运性质.结果发现,Rashba自旋轨道耦合作用引起的自旋相关的量子干涉效应能够在电极中产生自旋流.这种自旋流的大小、方向以及自旋极化度等性质可以通过纯电学手段改变系统参数来加以调控.在适当选择这些参数时,电极中甚至可以产生完全自旋极化流或纯自旋流.这些效应说明我们所研究的系统可用来设计纯电学的自旋流产生装置.     

半导体自旋电子学中的自旋流——自旋电子学前沿探索之一

本文简要地回顾了半导体自旋电子学中自旋流在自旋轨道耦合系统中的导出,指出其存在争议的问题．随后分析了近年来对自旋流定义的讨论,包括自旋密度,自旋流算符,流守恒方程等的各种修正,最后列举了一些暂时避开自旋流定义去讨论物理过程的技巧。     

半导体中纯自旋流的探测

自旋电子学是利用电子的自旋而非电子的电荷作为信息载体而发展的物理和电子器件研究的分支领域.半导体中自旋流的测量在自旋电子学中起关键作用.本文从自旋流的基本性质出发,简要回顾了目前国际上探测自旋流的实验手段,以及作者最近提出的有关自旋流的光学效应和以此直接测量半导体中纯自旋流的理论.     

在Rashba和Dresselhaus自旋轨道耦合相互作用下二端双通道中的局域自旋极化研究

研究二端双通道结构中同时存在Rashba和Dresselhaus两种自旋轨道耦合相互作用情况下的电子局域自旋极化.本结构中所产生的局域自旋极化是由量子干涉效应和自旋轨道耦合共同导致的,因此可以通过调节结构参数和门电压的大小来改变局域自旋极化的大小.在适当选取某些参数的情况下.局域自旋极化可以达到0.33,可以用于自旋过滤器和信息储存器件.     

杂质散射对具有Rashba自旋轨道耦合2维电子系统的自旋霍耳效应影响

在具有Rashba自旋轨道耦合的2维电子系统中,外加电场会产生一个垂直于电场的自旋霍耳电流,这个效应称之为自旋霍耳效应.该文主要分析的是在考虑杂质散射的情况下,通过对具有Rashba自旋轨道耦合的2维电子系统的哈密顿量的求解,得到它在z方向的自旋分量是收敛的,同时得到了自旋霍耳电导率不普适.这不同于S inova等人所提出的在具有Rashba自旋轨道耦合的2维电子系统自旋霍耳电导率是普适的结论.     

GaN基半导体中载流子的自旋注入、弛豫及调控

GaN基半导体材料由于其电场可控的自旋轨道耦合以及高于室温的居里温度,在半导体自旋电子学领域引起了广泛的关注.载流子的自旋注入、弛豫和调控是发展半导体自旋电子器件的关键问题.本文回顾了基于时间分辨克尔光谱和平面自旋阀电学测量对GaN基半导体中载流子的自旋注入、弛豫和调控的研究进展.对GaN基半导体的精细能带结构、自旋轨道耦合、自旋弛豫机制及自旋调控等进行了讨论,总结了GaN基半导体自旋电子器件的研究现状并提出展望.     

量子化反常霍尔效应及其研究进展

量子反常霍尔效应是在没有外磁场的情况下由自发磁化导致的量子化霍尔电导效应,其物理本质是自发磁化和自旋轨道耦合相互作用共同导致的拓扑非平庸的电子结构.因为此效应使用的是电荷流,更容易与现有的电子学技术兼容,它将推进新一代低能量消耗晶体管和电子学器件的发展.介绍了量子化反常霍尔效应的发展历程、产生机理,及其目前的研究进展.     

强调制的自旋透射结构研究

由于在低维纳米尺度的体系中,自旋在一些性能上比电荷更优越,例如低能耗,退相干时间长等,由此利用自旋自由度来设计电子器件成为当前研究热点之一.其中许多工作集中到利用外电场经由Rashba自旋轨道耦合来控制半导体装置中的电流调制上.     

介观环中有Dresselhause自旋-轨道耦合效应的持续自旋流

在介观半导体环中,自旋-轨道耦合的存在直接影响持续自旋流的流动.作为自旋分裂的结果,持续自旋流并不与电荷流成一定的比例.我们研究有Dresselhaus自旋-轨道相互作用存在的介观半导体环中持续自旋流的性质.     

贵金属/半导体异质结中的光致自旋电流效应研究

自旋电子材料因能同时对电子的自旋和电荷两个自由度实施操控,在构筑以低功耗、超高速、大容量和超宽带为特征的新一代信息处理技术中展现出巨大的应用潜力.然而,通过掺杂过渡金属元素和稀土离子而形成的传统稀磁半导体和钙钛矿锰氧化物往往因结构缺陷导致的居里温度不高、自旋磁矩和自旋极化率偏低等不足,阻碍了自旋电子材料的商业化应用.近年来,在高纯半导体上沉积贵金属薄膜所形成的贵金属/半导体异质结中,通过使用偏振光激发该类异质结可产生纯自旋电流.这种基于逆自旋霍尔效应(ISHE)、可在室温下运行的、非接触和非破坏型的自旋极化激励方法理论上可获得高于50%自旋极化率,引起了人们的广泛关注.文章主要介绍光致自旋电流形成机制和测试方法,以及入射光圆偏振度、光强、入射角度等参数对光致自旋注入效率的调控机理,介绍杂质介导和声子介导对光致自旋输运的贡献,最后提出增强光致自旋电子极化率的可行方案,可为揭示自旋载流子产生、注入和输运相关的自旋动力学核心科学问题以及研制高性能自旋电子器件提供有益的参考.     

Direct electronic measurement of the spin Hall effect

The generation, manipulation and detection of spin-polarized electrons in nanostructures define the main challenges of spin-based electronics. Among the different approaches for spin generation and manipulation, spin-orbit coupling--which couples the spin of an electron to its momentum--is attracting considerable interest. In a spin-orbit-coupled system, a non-zero spin current is predicted in a direction perpendicular to the applied electric field, giving rise to a spin Hall effect. Consistent with this effect, electrically induced spin polarization was recently detected by optical techniques at the edges of a semiconductor channel and in two-dimensional electron gases in semiconductor heterostructures. Here we report electrical measurements of the spin Hall effect in a diffusive metallic conductor, using a ferromagnetic electrode in combination with a tunnel barrier to inject a spin-polarized current. In our devices, we observe an induced voltage that results exclusively from the conversion of the injected spin current into charge imbalance through the spin Hall effect. Such a voltage is proportional to the component of the injected spins that is perpendicular to the plane defined by the spin current direction and the voltage probes. These experiments reveal opportunities for efficient spin detection without the need for magnetic materials, which could lead to useful spintronics devices that integrate information processing and data storage.     

磁颗粒复合体系中的反常霍耳效应

巨磁阻和反常霍耳效应都是与电子自旋相关散射有关的磁输运现象,应用扩展的有效介质近似方法和双通道模型,研究了磁颗粒复合体系中的反常霍耳效应,它源于旋轨耦合作用引起的电子非对称自旋相关散射。从理论上计算了反常霍耳效应与磁性颗粒尺寸关系,得到与实验基本相符的结果。在反常霍耳效应与磁颗粒浓度关系的研究中,发现在巨磁阻峰值浓度附近出现最佳的反常霍耳效应。     

Observation of the spin Seebeck effect

The generation of electric voltage by placing a conductor in a temperature gradient is called the Seebeck effect. Its efficiency is represented by the Seebeck coefficient, S, which is defined as the ratio of the generated electric voltage to the temperature difference, and is determined by the scattering rate and the density of the conduction electrons. The effect can be exploited, for example, in thermal electric-power generators and for temperature sensing, by connecting two conductors with different Seebeck coefficients, a device called a thermocouple. Here we report the observation of the thermal generation of driving power, or voltage, for electron spin: the spin Seebeck effect. Using a recently developed spin-detection technique that involves the spin Hall effect, we measure the spin voltage generated from a temperature gradient in a metallic magnet. This thermally induced spin voltage persists even at distances far from the sample ends, and spins can be extracted from every position on the magnet simply by attaching a metal. The spin Seebeck effect observed here is directly applicable to the production of spin-voltage generators, which are crucial for driving spintronic devices. The spin Seebeck effect allows us to pass a pure spin current, a flow of electron spins without electric currents, over a long distance. These innovative capabilities will invigorate spintronics research.     

考虑Rashba效应自组织量子点中极化子性质

在对半导体量子点的研究中考虑自旋一轨道相互作用对极化子基态能量的影响．采用LLP变分的方法研究了电子一声子相互作用．结果表明声子对极化子基态能量起了很重要的作用,而且由于极化子分裂能对极化子基态能量的贡献很大,故在量子点中研究极化子性质时不可忽略极化子分裂能的影响．自旋分裂能随动量增加呈抛物线型增加．随Rashba自旋轨道耦合常数的增加极化子基态能量表现为增加和减少两种截然相反的情况,而两个分裂态中自旋向下的能态更稳定．Rashba效应不可忽略．     

Giant magnetoresistance in organic spin-valves

A spin valve is a layered structure of magnetic and non-magnetic (spacer) materials whose electrical resistance depends on the spin state of electrons passing through the device and so can be controlled by an external magnetic field. The discoveries of giant magnetoresistance and tunnelling magnetoresistance in metallic spin valves have revolutionized applications such as magnetic recording and memory, and launched the new field of spin electronics--'spintronics'. Intense research efforts are now devoted to extending these spin-dependent effects to semiconductor materials. But while there have been noteworthy advances in spin injection and detection using inorganic semiconductors, spin-valve devices with semiconducting spacers have not yet been demonstrated. pi-conjugated organic semiconductors may offer a promising alternative approach to semiconductor spintronics, by virtue of their relatively strong electron-phonon coupling and large spin coherence. Here we report the injection, transport and detection of spin-polarized carriers using an organic semiconductor as the spacer layer in a spin-valve structure, yielding low-temperature giant magnetoresistance effects as large as 40 per cent.     

Spintronic materials and devices based on antiferromagnetic metals

In this paper, we review our recent experimental developments on antiferromagnet (AFM) spintronics mainly comprising Mn-based noncollinear AFM metals. IrMn-based tunnel junctions and Hall devices have been investigated to explore the manipulation of AFM moments by magnetic fields, ferromagnetic materials and electric fields. Room-temperature tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance based on IrMn as well as FeMn has been successfully achieved, and electrical control of the AFM exchange spring is realized by adopting ionic liquid. In addition, promising spin-orbit effects in AFM as well as spin transfer via AFM spin waves reported by different groups have also been reviewed, indicating that the AFM can serve as an efficient spin current source. To explore the crucial role of AFM acting as efficient generators, transmitters, and detectors of spin currents is an emerging topic in the field of magnetism today. AFM metals are now ready to join the rapidly developing fields of basic and applied spintronics, enriching this area of solid-state physics and microelectronics.