Controlling the helicity of light by electrical magnetization switching

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Dainone, Pambiang Abel; Prestes, Nicholas Figueiredo; Renucci, Pierre; Bouche, Alexandre; Morassi, Martina; Devaux, Xavier; Lindemann, Markus; George, Jean-Marie; Jaffres, Henri; Lemaitre, Aristide; Xu, Bo; Stoffel, Mathieu; Chen, Tongxin; Lombez, Laurent; Lagarde, Delphine; Cong, Guangwei; Ma, Tianyi; Pigeat, Philippe; Vergnat, Michel; Rinnert, Herve; Marie, Xavier; Han, Xiufeng; Mangin, Stephane; Rojas-Sanchez, Juan-Carlos; Wang, Jian-Ping; Beard, Matthew C.; Gerhardt, Nils C.; Zutic, Igor; Lu, Yuan
• 署名单位: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); CNRS - Institute of Chemistry (INC); Universite de Lorraine; Universite Paris Saclay; Thales Group; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Universite Federale Toulouse Midi-Pyrenees (ComUE); Universite de Toulouse; Institut National des Sciences Appliquees de Toulouse; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Universite Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier; Institut Polytechnique de Paris; Ecole Polytechnique; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Universite Paris Saclay; Universite Paris Cite; Ruhr University Bochum; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS; National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology (AIST); Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities; United States Department of Energy (DOE); National Renewable Energy Laboratory - USA; State University of New York (SUNY) System; University at Buffalo, SUNY
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-5711
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07125-5
• 发表日期: 2024-03-28
• 关键词: room-temperature; spintronics; magnetoresistance

摘要

Controlling the intensity of emitted light and charge current is the basis of transferring and processing information1. By contrast, robust information storage and magnetic random-access memories are implemented using the spin of the carrier and the associated magnetization in ferromagnets2. The missing link between the respective disciplines of photonics, electronics and spintronics is to modulate the circular polarization of the emitted light, rather than its intensity, by electrically controlled magnetization. Here we demonstrate that this missing link is established at room temperature and zero applied magnetic field in light-emitting diodes2-7, through the transfer of angular momentum between photons, electrons and ferromagnets. With spin-orbit torque8-11, a charge current generates also a spin current to electrically switch the magnetization. This switching determines the spin orientation of injected carriers into semiconductors, in which the transfer of angular momentum from the electron spin to photon controls the circular polarization of the emitted light2. The spin-photon conversion with the nonvolatile control of magnetization opens paths to seamlessly integrate information transfer, processing and storage. Our results provide substantial advances towards electrically controlled ultrafast modulation of circular polarization and spin injection with magnetization dynamics for the next-generation information and communication technology12, including space-light data transfer. The same operating principle in scaled-down structures or using two-dimensional materials will enable transformative opportunities for quantum information processing with spin-controlled single-photon sources, as well as for implementing spin-dependent time-resolved spectroscopies. The helicity of light from a light-emitting diode can be electrically controlled by spin-orbit torque effects, enabling a seamless integration of magnetization dynamics with photonics.