1. Direct visualization of current-induced spin accumulation in topological insulators.
- Author
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Yang Liu, Besbas, Jean, Yi Wang, Pan He, Mengji Chen, Dapeng Zhu, Yang Wu, Jong Min Lee, Lan Wang, Jisoo Moon, Koirala, Nikesh, Seongshik Oh, and Hyunsoo Yang
- Subjects
TOPOLOGICAL insulators ,SPIN polarization ,VISUALIZATION ,ELECTRIC insulators & insulation ,MAGNETIZATION - Abstract
Charge-to-spin conversion in various materials is the key for the fundamental understanding of spin-orbitronics and efficient magnetization manipulation. Here we report the direct spatial imaging of current-induced spin accumulation at the channel edges of Bi
2 Se3 and BiSbTeSe2 topological insulators as well as Pt by a scanning photovoltage microscope at room temperature. The spin polarization is along the out-of-plane direction with opposite signs for the two channel edges. The accumulated spin direction reverses sign upon changing the current direction and the detected spin signal shows a linear dependence on the magnitude of currents, indicating that our observed phenomena are current-induced effects. The spin Hall angle of Bi2 Se3 , BiSbTeSe2 , and Pt is determined to be 0.0085, 0.0616, and 0.0085, respectively. Our results open up the possibility of optically detecting the current-induced spin accumulations, and thus point towards a better understanding of the interaction between spins and circularly polarized light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2018
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