Spin Hall effects are a collection of relativistic spin-orbit coupling phenomena in which electrical currents can generate transverse spin currents and vice versa. Although first observed only a decade ago, these effects are already ubiquitous within
spintronics as standard spin-current generators and detectors. Here we review the experimental and theoretical results that have established this sub-field of spintronics. We focus on the results that have converged to give us a clear understanding of the phenomena and how they have evolved from a qualitative to a more quantitative measurement of spin-currents and their associated spin-accumulation. Within the experimental framework, we review optical, transport, and magnetization-dynamics based measurements and link them to both phenomenological and microscopic theories of the effect. Within the theoretical framework, we review the basic mechanisms in both the extrinsic and intrinsic regime which are linked to the mechanisms present in their closely related phenomenon in ferromagnets, the anomalous Hall effect. We also review the connection to the phenomenological treatment based on spin-diffusion equations applicable to certain regimes, as well as the spin-pumping theory of spin-generation which has proven important in the measurements of the spin Hall angle. We further connect the spin-current generating spin Hall effect to the inverse spin galvanic effect, which often accompanies the SHE, in which an electrical current induces a non-equilibrium spin polarization. These effects share common microscopic origins and can exhibit similar symmetries when present in ferromagnetic/non-magnetic structures through their induced current-driven spin torques. Although we give a short chronological overview, the main body is structured from a pedagogical point of view, focusing on well-established and accepted physics.
We predict that a lateral electrical current in antiferromagnets can induce non-equilibrium Neel order fields, i.e. fields whose sign alternates between the spin sublattices, which can trigger ultra-fast spin-axis reorientation. Based on microscopic
transport theory calculations we identify staggered current-induced fields analogous to the intra-band and to the intrinsic inter-band spin-orbit fields previously reported in ferromagnets with a broken inversion-symmetry crystal. To illustrate their rich physics and utility, we considered bulk Mn2Au with the two spin sublattices forming inversion partners, and a 2D square-lattice antiferromagnet with broken structural inversion symmetry modelled by a Rashba spin-orbit coupling. We propose an AFM memory device with electrical writing and reading.
(Ga,Mn)As is at the forefront of research exploring the synergy of magnetism with the physics and technology of semiconductors, and has led to discoveries of new spin-dependent phenomena and functionalities applicable to a wide range of material syst
ems. Its recognition and utility as an ideal model material for spintronics research has been undermined by the large scatter in reported semiconducting doping trends and micromagnetic parameters. In this paper we establish these basic material characteristics by individually optimizing the highly non-equilibrium synthesis for each Mn-doping level and by simultaneously determining all micromagnetic parameters from one set of magneto-optical pump-and-probe measurements. Our (Ga,Mn)As thin-film epilayers, spannig the wide range of accessible dopings, have sharp thermodynamic Curie point singularities typical of uniform magnetic systems. The materials show systematic trends of increasing magnetization, carrier density, and Curie temperature (reaching 188 K) with increasing doping, and monotonous doping dependence of the Gilbert damping constant of ~0.1-0.01 and the spin stiffness of ~2-3 meVnm^2. These results render (Ga,Mn)As well controlled degenerate semiconductor with basic magnetic characteristics comparable to common band ferromagnets.
Spin polarized carriers electrically injected into a magnet from an external polarizer can exert a spin transfer torque (STT) on the magnetization. The phe- nomenon belongs to the area of spintronics research focusing on manipulating magnetic moments
by electric fields and is the basis of the emerging technologies for scalable magnetoresistive random access memories. In our previous work we have reported experimental observation of the optical counterpart of STT in which a circularly polarized pump laser pulse acts as the external polarizer, allowing to study and utilize the phenomenon on several orders of magnitude shorter timescales than in the electric current induced STT. Recently it has been theoretically proposed and experimentally demonstrated that in the absence of an external polarizer, carriers in a magnet under applied electric field can develop a non-equilibrium spin polarization due to the relativistic spin-orbit coupling, resulting in a current induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) acting on the magnetization. In this paper we report the observation of the optical counterpart of SOT. At picosecond time-scales, we detect excitations of magnetization of a ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As which are independent of the polarization of the pump laser pulses and are induced by non-equilibrium spin-orbit coupled photo-holes.
We report on a theoretical and experimental study of CuMn-V antiferromagnets. Previous works showed low-temperature antiferomagnetism and semimetal electronic structure of the semi-Heusler CuMnSb. In this paper we present theoretical predictions of h
igh-temperature antiferromagnetism in the stable orthorhombic phases of CuMnAs and CuMnP. The electronic structure of CuMnAs is at the transition from a semimetal to a semiconductor and we predict that CuMnP is a semiconductor. We show that the transition to a semiconductor-like band structure upon introducing the lighter group-V elements is present in both the metastable semi-Heusler and the stable orthorhombic crystal structures. On the other hand, the orthorhombic phase is crucial for the high Neel temperature. Results of X-ray diffraction, magnetization, transport, and neutron diffraction measurements we performed on chemically synthesized CuMnAs are consistent with the theory predictions.
Non-thermal laser induced spin excitations, recently discovered in conventional oxide and metal ferromagnets, open unprecedented opportunities for research and applications of ultrafast optical manipulation of magnetic systems. Ferromagnetic semicond
uctors, and (Ga,Mn)As in particular, should represent ideal systems for exploring this new field. Remarkably, the presence of non-thermal effects has remained one of the outstanding unresolved problems in the research of ferromagnetic semiconductors to date. Here we demonstrate that coherent magnetization dynamics can be excited in (Ga,Mn)As non-thermally by a transfer of angular momentum from circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses and by a combination of non-thermal and thermal effects due to a transfer of energy from laser pulses. The thermal effects can be completely suppressed in piezo-electrically controlled samples. Our work is based on pump-and-probe measurements in a large set of (Ga,Mn)As epilayers and on systematic analysis of circular and linear magneto-optical coefficients. We provide microscopic theoretical interpretation of the experimental results.
Spin-valve is a microelectronic device in which high and low resistance states are realized by utilizing both charge and spin of carriers. Spin-valve structures used in modern hard drive read-heads and magnetic random access memories comprise two fer
romagnetic (FM) electrodes whose relative magnetization orientations can be switched between parallel and antiparallel configurations, yielding the desired giant or tunneling magnetoresistance effect. In this paper we demonstrate >100$% spin-valve-like signal in a NiFe/IrMn/MgO/Pt stack with an antiferromagnet (AFM) on one side and a non-magnetic metal on the other side of the tunnel barrier. FM moments in NiFe are reversed by external fields <50mT and the exchange-spring effect of NiFe on IrMn induces rotation of AFM moments in IrMn which is detected by the measured tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR). Our work demonstrates a spintronic element whose transport characteristics are governed by an AFM. It demonstrates that sensitivity to low magnetic fields can be combined with large, spin-orbit coupling induced magneto-transport anisotropy using a single magnetic electrode. The AFM-TAMR provides means to study magnetic characteristics of AFM films by an electronic transport measurement.
Spin transistors and spin Hall effects have been two separate leading directions of research in semiconductor spintronics which seeks new paradigms for information processing technologies. We have brought the two directions together to realize an all
-semiconductor spin Hall effect transistor. Our scheme circumvents semiconductor-ferromagnet interface problems of the original Datta-Das spin transistor concept and demonstrates the utility of the spin Hall effects in microelectronics. The devices use diffusive transport and operate without electrical current, i.e., without Joule heating in the active part of the transistor. We demonstrate a spin AND logic function in a semiconductor channel with two gates. Our experimental study is complemented by numerical Monte Carlo simulations of spin-diffusion through the transistor channel.
We report on a systematic study of optical properties of (Ga,Mn)As epilayers spanning the wide range of accessible substitutional Mn_Ga dopings. The growth and post-growth annealing procedures were optimized for each nominal Mn doping in order to obt
ain films which are as close as possible to uniform uncompensated (Ga,Mn)As mixed crystals. We observe a broad maximum in the mid-infrared absorption spectra whose position exhibits a prevailing blue-shift for increasing Mn-doping. In the visible range, a peak in the magnetic circular dichroism blue shifts with increasing Mn-doping. These observed trends confirm that disorder-broadened valence band states provide a better one-particle representation for the electronic structure of high-doped (Ga,Mn)As with metallic conduction than an energy spectrum assuming the Fermi level pinned in a narrow impurity band.
We analyze microscopically the valence and impurity band models of ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As. We find that the tight-binding Anderson approach with conventional parameterization and the full potential LDA+U calculations give a very similar picture of s
tates near the Fermi energy which reside in an exchange-split sp-d hybridized valence band with dominant orbital character of the host semiconductor; this microscopic spectral character is consistent with the physical premise of the k.p kinetic-exchange model. On the other hand, the various models with a band structure comprising an impurity band detached from the valence band assume mutually incompatible microscopic spectral character. By adapting the tight-binding Anderson calculations individually to each of the impurity band pictures in the single Mn impurity limit and then by exploring the entire doping range we find that a detached impurity band does not persist in any of these models in ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As.
