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Spin injection is a powerful experimental probe into a wealth of nonequilibrium spin-dependent phenomena displayed by materials with spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Here, we develop a theory of coupled spin-charge diffusive transport in two-dimensional spin-valve devices. The theory describes a realistic proximity-induced SOC with both spatially uniform and random components of the SOC due to adatoms and imperfections, and applies to the two dimensional electron gases found in two-dimensional materials and van der Walls heterostructures. The various charge-to-spin conversion mechanisms known to be present in diffusive metals, including the spin Hall effect and several mechanisms contributing current-induced spin polarization are accounted for. Our analysis shows that the dominant conversion mechanisms can be discerned by analyzing the nonlocal resistance of the spin-valve for different polarizations of the injected spins and as a function of the applied in-plane magnetic field., Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures

Efficient detection of spin-charge conversion is crucial for advancing our understanding of emergent phenomena in spin-orbit-coupled nanostructures. Here, we provide proof of principle of an electrical detection scheme of spin-charge conversion that enables full disentanglement of competing spin-orbit coupling transport phenomena in diffusive lateral channels i.e. the inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) and the spin galvanic effect (SGE). A suitable detection geometry in an applied oblique magnetic field is shown to provide direct access to spin-charge transport coefficients through a simple symmetry analysis of the output non-local resistance. The scheme is robust against tilting of the spin-injector magnetization, disorder and spurious non-spin related contributions to the non-local signal, and can be used to probe spin-charge conversion effects in both spin-valve and hybrid optospintronic devices., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures + supplementary information (2 pages, 3 figures). Improved theory accounting for a much wider class of lateral spin-valve devices. Readability has been improved to make work accessible to wider audience. Title, abstract, main text, references and SM updated accordingly

Inducing sizable spin--orbit interactions in graphene by proximity effect is establishing as a successful route to harnessing two-dimensional Dirac fermions for spintronics. Semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are an ideal complement to graphene because of their strong intrinsic spin--orbit coupling (SOC) and spin/valley-selective light absorption, which allows all-optical spin injection into graphene. In this study, we present a microscopic theory of spin dynamics in weakly disordered graphene samples subject to uniform proximity-induced SOC as realized in graphene/TMD bilayers. A time-dependent perturbative treatment is employed to derive spin Bloch equations governing the spin dynamics at high electronic density. Various scenarios are predicted, depending on a delicate competition between interface-induced Bychkov-Rashba and spin--valley (Zeeman-type) interactions and the ratio of intra- to inter-valley scattering rates. For weak SOC compared to the disorder-induced quasiparticle broadening, the anisotropy ratio of out-of-plane to in-plane spin lifetimes $\zeta=\tau_{s}^{\perp}/\tau_{s}^{\parallel}$ agrees qualitatively with a toy model of spins in a weak fluctuating SOC field recently proposed by Cummings and co-workers [PRL 119, 206601 (2017)]. In the opposite regime of well-resolved SOC, qualitatively different formulae are obtained, which can be tested in ultra-clean heterostructures characterized by uniform proximity-induced SOC in the graphene layer., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures

We present a unified theoretical framework for the study of spin dynamics and relativistic transport phenomena in disordered two-dimensional Dirac systems with pseudospin-spin coupling. The formalism is applied to the paradigmatic case of graphene with uniform Bychkov-Rashba interaction and shown to capture spin relaxation processes and associated charge-to-spin interconversion phenomena in response to generic external perturbations, including spin density fluctuations and electric fields. A controlled diagrammatic evaluation of the generalized spin susceptibility in the diffusive regime of weak spin-orbit interaction allows us to show that the spin and momentum lifetimes satisfy the standard Dyakonov-Perel relation for both weak (Gaussian) and resonant (unitary) nonmagnetic disorder. Finally, we demonstrate that the spin relaxation rate can be derived in the zero-frequency limit by exploiting the SU(2) covariant conservation laws for the spin observables. Our results set the stage for a fully quantum-mechanical description of spin relaxation in both pristine graphene samples with weak spin-orbit fields and in graphene heterostructures with enhanced spin-orbital effects currently attracting much attention., Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

We present a unified theory of charge carrier transport in 2D Dirac systems with broken mirror inversion and time-reversal symmetries (e.g., as realized in ferromagnetic graphene). We find that the entanglement between spin and pseudospin SU(2) degrees of freedom stemming from spin-orbit effects leads to a distinctive gate voltage dependence (change of sign) of the anomalous Hall conductivity approaching the topological gap, which remains robust against impurity scattering and thus is a smoking gun for magnetized 2D Dirac fermions. Furthermore, we unveil a robust skew scattering mechanism, modulated by the spin texture of the energy bands, which causes a net spin accumulation at the sample boundaries even for spin-transparent disorder. The newly unveiled extrinsic spin Hall effect is readily tunable by a gate voltage and opens novel opportunities for the control of spin currents in 2D ferromagnetic materials., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures + supplemental material (16 pages, 9 figures). Title and references updated

When graphene is placed on a monolayer of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) its band structure develops rich spin textures due to proximity spin-orbital effects with interfacial breaking of inversion symmetry. In this work, we show that the characteristic spin winding of low-energy states in graphene on TMD monolayer enables current-driven spin polarization known as the inverse spin galvanic effect (ISGE). By introducing a proper figure of merit, we quantify the efficiency of charge-to-spin conversion and show it is close to unity when the Fermi level approaches the spin minority band. Remarkably, at high electronic density, even though sub-bands with opposite spin helicities are occupied, the efficiency decays only algebraically. The giant ISGE predicted for graphene on TMD monolayer is robust against disorder and remains large at room temperature., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures + supplemental material (5 pages, 4 figures); accepted version

We present a theoretical analysis of two-dimensional Dirac-Rashba systems in the presence of disorder and external perturbations. We unveil a set of exact symmetry relations (Ward identities) that impose strong constraints on the spin dynamics of Dirac fermions subject to proximity-induced interactions. This allows us to demonstrate that an arbitrary dilute concentration of scalar impurities results in the total suppression of nonequilibrium spin Hall currents when only Rashba spin-orbit coupling is present. Remarkably, a finite spin Hall conductivity is restored when the minimal Dirac-Rashba model is supplemented with a spin-valley interaction. The Ward identities provide a systematic way to predict the emergence of the spin Hall effect in a wider class of Dirac-Rashba systems of experimental relevance and represent an important benchmark for testing the validity of numerical methodologies., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures + supplemental material (5 pages); accepted version