{"id":263509,"date":"2025-11-15T02:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T02:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/263509\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T02:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T02:09:10","slug":"electrical-control-of-spin-currents-in-graphene-via-ferroelectric-switching-achieved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/263509\/","title":{"rendered":"Electrical control of spin currents in graphene via ferroelectric switching achieved"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Researchers<\/p>\n

Characteristics of the graphene\/In2Se3 heterostructure transport device that shows the spin chirality switch. Credit: Martin Gmitra from the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Marcin Kurpas from University of Silesia in Katowice.<\/p>\n

A collaborative European research team led by physicists from Slovak Academy of Sciences has theorized a new approach to control spin currents in graphene by coupling it to a ferroelectric In2Se3 monolayer. Using first-principles and tight-binding simulations, the researcher showed that the ferroelectric switching of In2Se3 can reverse the direction of the spin current in graphene acting as an electrical spin switch. This discovery offers a novel pathway toward energy-efficient, nonvolatile, and magnet-free spintronic devices, marking a key step toward the fabrication of next-generation spin-based logic and memory systems to control spin textures.<\/p>\n

The findings are published<\/a> in the journal Materials Futures.<\/p>\n

Spintronics and the promise of graphene<\/p>\n

Over the past two decades, spintronics has emerged as one of the most promising frontiers in nanoelectronics, seeking to exploit the intrinsic angular momentum<\/a>, or spin, of electrons to carry and process information. Unlike conventional charge-based electronics, spin-based logic and memory promise orders-of-magnitude reductions in power consumption<\/a> and heat dissipation, along with faster operation speeds and nonvolatile data retention.<\/p>\n

Despite rapid progress in materials and device architecture, a fundamental obstacle persists: achieving precise, low-energy electrical control over spin currents without relying on external magnetic fields<\/a>. Magnetic manipulation, although effective, poses major challenges for device scalability, energy efficiency, and compatibility with existing semiconductor technologies.<\/p>\n

In this context, two-dimensional (2D) materials have opened a new landscape where graphene<\/a> is one of the most popular representatives.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHeterostructures and ferroelectric control<\/p>\n

Graphene, with its exceptional electronic mobility and long spin-relaxation time, is a prime candidate for spintronics. However, its weak intrinsic spin-orbit coupling limits direct spin control. To overcome this, researchers have turned to van der Waals heterostructures, stacking graphene with other 2D materials to induce new functionalities through proximity effects.<\/p>\n

One attractive heterostructure involves coupling of graphene to ferroelectric materials with a spontaneous electric polarization that can be controlled by an applied voltage. When a ferroelectric material is brought in contact with graphene, its electric dipole can break inversion symmetry at the interface. This proximity can, in principle, allow spin orientation and pure electric switching.<\/p>\n

Taking this concept into consideration, a group of researchers introduced a novel graphene\/In2Se3 heterostructure platform where proximity effects induced by the ferroelectric polarization of In2Se3 can modulate the spin-orbit coupling in graphene. Using first-principles calculations and tight-binding modeling, they showed that flipping the polarization direction of In2Se3 reverses the sign of the Rashba-Edelstein effect, thereby switching the chirality of spin textures and the spin current direction. This modulation occurs without magnetic fields and with negligible power once the polarization is set.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKey findings and future directions<\/p>\n

The research team investigated graphene\/In\u2082Se\u2083 heterostructures in two configurations: a perfectly aligned (0\u00b0) interface and a twisted geometry (17.5\u00b0). Through detailed electronic structure calculations, they found that reversing the ferroelectric polarization of the In\u2082Se\u2083 monolayer reverses the sign of the charge-to-spin conversion coefficient, acting as an electrical “chirality switch” for spin currents<\/a> in graphene.<\/p>\n

At zero twist, the system exhibits a conventional Rashba-Edelstein effect (REE), where an applied charge current generates a transverse spin accumulation whose direction is locked to the ferroelectric polarization. At 17.5\u00b0, the system transitions into a regime dominated by an unconventional Rashba-Edelstein effect (UREE), in which the spin current becomes nearly collinear with the charge flow due to the emergence of a radial Rashba field, a novel phenomenon previously inaccessible in planar graphene systems.<\/p>\n

Their results provide a theoretical foundation for realizing graphene-based spin transistors controlled by ferroelectric switching, potentially enabling next-generation spin logic and memory devices with low energy consumption and high speed. The study underscores the promise of integrating two-dimensional ferroelectric materials with graphene to harness novel spintronic functionalities.<\/p>\n

Future efforts should focus on the experimental validation of the proposed results to fully realize electrically controlled, non-volatile spintronic devices with low energy consumption and high speed.<\/p>\n

More information:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarko Milivojevic et al, Ferroelectric switching control of spin current in graphene proximitized by In2Se3, Materials Futures (2025). DOI: 10.1088\/2752-5724\/ae18ea<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInstitute of Experimental Physics SAS<\/a>
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCitation:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tElectrical control of spin currents in graphene via ferroelectric switching achieved (2025, November 14)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 14 November 2025
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-11-electrical-currents-graphene-ferroelectric.html\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
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