Unusual Spin Polarization in the Chirality-Induced Spin Selectivity

Chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS) refers to the fact that electrons get spin polarized after passing through chiral molecules in a nanoscale transport device or in photoemission experiments. In CISS, chiral molecules are commonly believed to be a spin filter through which one favored spin transmits and the opposite spin gets reflected; that is, transmitted and reflected electrons exhibit opposite spin polarization. In this work, we point out that such a spin filter scenario contradicts the principle that equilibrium spin current must vanish. Instead, we find that both transmitted and reflected electrons present the same type of spin polarization, which is actually ubiquitous for a two-terminal device. More accurately, chiral molecules play the role of a spin polarizer rather than a spin filter. The direction of spin polarization is determined by the molecule chirality and the electron incident direction. And the magnitude of spin polarization relies on local spin-orbit coupling in the device. Our work brings a deeper understanding on CISS and interprets recent experiments, for example, the CISS-driven anomalous Hall effect.

Automated summary

Chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS) refers to the phenomenon where electrons become spin polarized after passing through chiral molecules in a nanoscale transport device or in photoemission experiments. Contrary to common belief, this study finds that both transmitted and reflected electrons exhibit the same type of spin polarization, which is a universal characteristic for two-terminal devices. Chiral molecules act as spin polarizers rather than spin filters, and the direction of spin polarization is determined by the molecule's chirality and the incident direction of the electron. The magnitude of spin polarization is influenced by local spin-orbit coupling in the device.