No Arabic abstract
Spintronic structures are extensively investigated for their spin orbit torque properties, required for magnetic commutation functionalities. Current progress in these materials is dependent on the interface engineering for the optimization of spin transmission. Here, we advance the analysis of ultrafast spin-charge conversion phenomena at ferromagnetic-transition metal interfaces due to their inverse spin-Hall effect properties. In particular the intrinsic inverse spin Hall effect of Pt-based systems and extrinsic inverse spin-Hall effect of Au:W and Au:Ta in NiFe/Au:(W,Ta) bilayers are investigated. The spin-charge conversion is probed by complementary techniques -- ultrafast THz time domain spectroscopy in the dynamic regime for THz pulse emission and ferromagnetic resonance spin-pumping measurements in the GHz regime in the steady state -- to determine the role played by the material properties, resistivities, spin transmission at metallic interfaces and spin-flip rates. These measurements show the correspondence between the THz time domain spectroscopy and ferromagnetic spin-pumping for the different set of samples in term of the spin mixing conductance. The latter quantity is a critical parameter, determining the strength of the THz emission from spintronic interfaces. This is further supported by ab-initio calculations, simulations and analysis of the spin-diffusion and spin relaxation of carriers within the multilayers in the time domain, permitting to determine the main trends and the role of spin transmission at interfaces. This work illustrates that time domain spectroscopy for spin-based THz emission is a powerful technique to probe spin-dynamics at active spintronic interfaces and to extract key material properties for spin-charge conversion.
We demonstrate terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) to be an accurate, rapid and scalable method to probe the interaction-induced Fermi velocity renormalization { u}F^* of charge carriers in graphene. This allows the quantitative extraction of all electrical parameters (DC conductivity {sigma}DC, carrier density n, and carrier mobility {mu}) of large-scale graphene films placed on arbitrary substrates via THz-TDS. Particularly relevant are substrates with low relative permittivity (< 5) such as polymeric films, where notable renormalization effects are observed even at relatively large carrier densities (> 10^12 cm-2, Fermi level > 0.1 eV). From an application point of view, the ability to rapidly and non-destructively quantify and map the electrical ({sigma}DC, n, {mu}) and electronic ({ u}F^* ) properties of large-scale graphene on generic substrates is key to utilize this material in applications such as metrology, flexible electronics as well as to monitor graphene transfers using polymers as handling layers.
In spin-based electronics, information is encoded by the spin state of electron bunches. Processing this information requires the controlled transport of spin angular momentum through a solid, preferably at frequencies reaching the so far unexplored terahertz (THz) regime. Here, we demonstrate, by experiment and theory, that the temporal shape of femtosecond spin-current bursts can be manipulated by using specifically designed magnetic heterostructures. A laser pulse is employed to drive spins from a ferromagnetic Fe thin film into a nonmagnetic cap layer that has either low (Ru) or high (Au) electron mobility. The resulting transient spin current is detected by means of an ultrafast, contactless amperemeter based on the inverse spin Hall effect that converts the spin flow into a THz electromagnetic pulse. We find that the Ru cap layer yields a considerably longer spin-current pulse because electrons are injected in Ru d states that have a much smaller mobility than Au sp states. Thus, spin current pulses and the resulting THz transients can be shaped by tailoring magnetic heterostructures, which opens the door for engineering high-speed spintronic devices as well as broadband THz emitters in particular covering the elusive range from 5 to 10THz.
We use the terahertz (THz) emission spectroscopy to study femtosecond photocurrent dynamics in the prototypical 2D semiconductor, transition metal dichalcogenide MoSe$_2$. We identify several distinct mechanisms producing THz radiation in response to an ultrashort ($30,$fs) optical excitation in a bilayer (BL) and a multilayer (ML) sample. In the ML, the THz radiation is generated at a picosecond timescale by out-of-plane currents due to the drift of photoexcited charge carriers in the surface electric field. The BL emission is generated by an in-plane shift current. Finally, we observe oscillations at about $23,$THz in the emission from the BL sample. We attribute the oscillations to quantum beats between two excitonic states with energetic separation of $sim100,$meV.
Terahertz (THz) spin-to-charge conversion has become an increasingly important process for THz pulse generation and as a tool to probe ultrafast spin interactions at magnetic interfaces. However, its relation to traditional, steady state, ferromagnetic resonance techniques is poorly understood. Here we investigate nanometric trilayers of Co/X/Pt (X=Ti, Au or Au0:85W0:15) as a function of the X layer thickness, where THz emission generated by the inverse spin Hall effect is compared to the Gilbert damping of the ferromagnetic resonance. Through the insertion of the X layer we show that the ultrafast spin current injected in the non-magnetic layer defines a direct spin conductance, whereas the Gilbert damping leads to an effective spin mixing-conductance of the trilayer. Importantly, we show that these two parameters are connected to each other and that spin-memory losses can be modeled via an effective Hamiltonian with Rashba fields. This work highlights that magneto-circuits concepts can be successfully extended to ultrafast spintronic devices, as well as enhancing the understanding of spin-to-charge conversion processes through the complementarity between ultrafast THz spectroscopy and steady state techniques.
Employing electron spin instead of charge to develop spintronic devices holds the merits of low-power consumption in information technologies. Meanwhile, the demand for increasing speed in spintronics beyond current CMOS technology has further triggered intensive researches for ultrafast control of spins even up to unprecedent terahertz regime. The femtosecond laser has been emerging as a potential technique to generate an ultrafast spin-current burst for magnetization manipulation. However, there is a great challenge to establish all-optical control and monitor of the femtosecond transient spin current. Deep insights into the physics and mechanism are extremely essential for the technique. Here, we demonstrate coherently nonthermal excitation of femtosecond spin-charge current conversion parallel to the magnetization in W/CoFeB/Pt heterostructures driven by linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulses. Through systematical investigation we observe the terahertz emission polarization depends on both the magnetization direction and structural asymmetry. We attribute this phenomenon of the terahertz generation parallel to the magnetization induced by linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulses probably to inverse spin-orbit torque effect. Our work not only is beneficial to the deep understanding of spin-charge conversion and spin transportation, but also helps develop novel on-chip terahertz opto-spintronic devices.