Spin manipulation by giant valley-Zeeman spin-orbit field in atom-thick WSe2

The phenomenon originating from spin-orbit coupling provides energy-efficient strategies for spin manipulation and device applications. The broken inversion symmetry interface and the resulting electric field induce a Rashba-type spin-orbit field (SOF), which has been demonstrated to generate spin-orbit torque for data storage applications. In this study, we found that spin flipping can be achieved by the valley-Zeeman SOF in monolayer WSe2 at room temperature, which manifests as a negative magnetoresistance in the vertical spin valve. Quantum transmission calculations based on an effective model near the K valley of WSe2 confirm the precessional spin transport of carriers under the giant SOF, which is estimated to be 650 T. In particular, the valley-Zeeman SOF-induced spin dynamics was demonstrated to be tunable with the layer number and stacking phase of WSe2 as well as the gate voltage, which provides a novel strategy for spin manipulation and can benefit the development of ultralow-power spintronic devices. (c) 2022 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study found that spin flipping can be achieved by the valley-Zeeman spin-orbit field in monolayer WSe2 at room temperature, resulting in negative magnetoresistance in the vertical spin valve. Quantum transmission calculations confirmed the precessional spin transport of carriers under the giant spin-orbit field. Furthermore, the spin dynamics induced by the valley-Zeeman spin-orbit field was demonstrated to be tunable with the layer number and stacking phase of WSe2 as well as the gate voltage, providing a novel strategy for spin manipulation.