IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v8y2017i1d10.1038_ncomms15401.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spin injection and helicity control of surface spin photocurrent in a three dimensional topological insulator

Author

Listed:
  • Y. Q. Huang

    (Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University)

  • Y. X. Song

    (State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, CAS Center of Excellence for Superconducting Electronics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • S. M. Wang

    (State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, CAS Center of Excellence for Superconducting Electronics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Chalmers University of Technology)

  • I. A. Buyanova

    (Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University)

  • W. M. Chen

    (Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University)

Abstract

A three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) is a unique quantum phase of matter with exotic physical properties and promising spintronic applications. However, surface spin current in a common 3D TI remains difficult to control and the out-of-plane spin texture is largely unexplored. Here, by means of surface spin photocurrent in Bi2Te3 TI devices driven by circular polarized light, we identify the subtle effect of the spin texture of the topological surface state including the hexagonal warping term on the surface current. By exploring the out-of-plane spin texture, we demonstrate spin injection from GaAs to TI and its significant contribution to the surface current, which can be manipulated by an external magnetic field. These discoveries pave the way to not only intriguing new physics but also enriched spin functionalities by integrating TI with conventional semiconductors, such that spin-enabled optoelectronic devices may be fabricated in such hybrid structures.

Suggested Citation

  • Y. Q. Huang & Y. X. Song & S. M. Wang & I. A. Buyanova & W. M. Chen, 2017. "Spin injection and helicity control of surface spin photocurrent in a three dimensional topological insulator," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15401
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15401
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms15401?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15401. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.