Spin polarization

About: Spin polarization is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 27786 publications have been published within this topic receiving 747215 citations.

Making Nonmagnetic Semiconductors Ferromagnetic

Abstract: REVIEW Semiconductor devices generally take advantage of the charge of electrons, whereas magnetic materials are used for recording information involving electron spin. To make use of both charge and spin of electrons in semiconductors, a high concentration of magnetic elements can be introduced in nonmagnetic III-V semiconductors currently in use for devices. Low solubility of magnetic elements was overcome by low-temperature nonequilibrium molecular beam epitaxial growth, and ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As was realized. Magnetotransport measurements revealed that the magnetic transition temperature can be as high as 110 kelvin. The origin of the ferromagnetic interaction is discussed. Multilayer heterostructures including resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) have also successfully been fabricated. The magnetic coupling between two ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As films separated by a nonmagnetic layer indicated the critical role of the holes in the magnetic coupling. The magnetic coupling in all semiconductor ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic layered structures, together with the possibility of spin filtering in RTDs, shows the potential of the present material system for exploring new physics and for developing new functionality toward future electronics.

Coupled spin and valley physics in monolayers of MoS2 and other group-VI dichalcogenides.

Abstract: We show that inversion symmetry breaking together with spin-orbit coupling leads to coupled spin and valley physics in monolayers of MoS2 and other group-VI dichalcogenides, making possible controls of spin and valley in these 2D materials The spin-valley coupling at the valence-band edges suppresses spin and valley relaxation, as flip of each index alone is forbidden by the valley-contrasting spin splitting Valley Hall and spin Hall effects coexist in both electron-doped and hole-doped systems Optical interband transitions have frequency-dependent polarization selection rules which allow selective photoexcitation of carriers with various combination of valley and spin indices Photoinduced spin Hall and valley Hall effects can generate long lived spin and valley accumulations on sample boundaries The physics discussed here provides a route towards the integration of valleytronics and spintronics in multivalley materials with strong spin-orbit coupling and inversion symmetry breaking

A local exchange-correlation potential for the spin polarized case: I

Abstract: The local density theory is developed by Hohenberg, Kohn and Sham is extended to the spin polarized case. A spin dependent one- electron potential pertinent to ground state properties is obtained from calculations of the total energy per electron made with a 'bubble' (or random phase) type of dielectric function. The potential is found to be well represented by an analytic expression corresponding to a shifted and rescaled spin dependent Slater potential. To test this potential the momentum dependent spin susceptibility of an electron gas is calculated. The results compare favourably with available information from other calculations and from experiment. The potential obtained in this paper should be useful for split band calculations of magnetic materials.

Density-functional theory and strong interactions: Orbital ordering in Mott-Hubbard insulators

Abstract: Evidence is presented that within the density-functional theory orbital polarization has to be treated on an equal footing with spin polarization and charge density for strongly interacting electron systems. Using a basis-set independent generalization of the LDA+U functional, we show that electronic orbital ordering is a necessary condition to obtain the correct crystal structure and parameters of the exchange interaction for the Mott-Hubbard insulator ${\mathrm{KCuF}}_{3}$.

Half-metallic graphene nanoribbons

Abstract: Electrical current can be completely spin polarized in a class of materials known as half-metals, as a result of the coexistence of metallic nature for electrons with one spin orientation and insulating nature for electrons with the other. Such asymmetric electronic states for the different spins have been predicted for some ferromagnetic metals--for example, the Heusler compounds--and were first observed in a manganese perovskite. In view of the potential for use of this property in realizing spin-based electronics, substantial efforts have been made to search for half-metallic materials. However, organic materials have hardly been investigated in this context even though carbon-based nanostructures hold significant promise for future electronic devices. Here we predict half-metallicity in nanometre-scale graphene ribbons by using first-principles calculations. We show that this phenomenon is realizable if in-plane homogeneous electric fields are applied across the zigzag-shaped edges of the graphene nanoribbons, and that their magnetic properties can be controlled by the external electric fields. The results are not only of scientific interest in the interplay between electric fields and electronic spin degree of freedom in solids but may also open a new path to explore spintronics at the nanometre scale, based on graphene.