Electrical gate control of spin current in van der Waals heterostructures at room temperature.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28677673.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms16093 and PMC identifier 5504284.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) crystals offer a unique platform due to their remarkable and contrasting spintronic properties, such as weak spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in graphene and strong SOC in molybdenum disulfide (MoS<sub>2</sub>). Here we combine graphene and MoS<sub>2</sub> in a van der Waals heterostructure (vdWh) to demonstrate the electric gate control of the spin current and spin lifetime at room temperature. By performing non-local spin valve and Hanle measurements, we unambiguously prove the gate tunability of the spin current and spin lifetime in graphene/MoS<sub>2</sub> vdWhs at 300 K. This unprecedented control over the spin parameters by orders of magnitude stems from the gate tuning of the Schottky barrier at the MoS<sub>2</sub>/graphene interface and MoS<sub>2</sub> channel conductivity leading to spin dephasing in high-SOC material. Our findings demonstrate an all-electrical spintronic device at room temperature with the creation, transport and control of the spin in 2D materials heterostructures, which can be key building blocks in future device architectures.