Moharana Ashish, Kapon Yael, Kammerbauer Fabian, Anthofer David, Yochelis Shira, Shema Hadar, Gross Elad, Kläui Mathias, Paltiel Yossi, Wittmann Angela
Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz 55128, Germany.
Institute of Applied Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel.
Sci Adv. 2025 Jan 3;11(1):eado4285. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ado4285. Epub 2025 Jan 1.
The observation of spin-dependent transmission of electrons through chiral molecules has led to the discovery of chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS). The remarkably high efficiency of the spin polarizing effect has recently gained substantial interest due to the high potential for future sustainable hybrid chiral molecule magnetic applications. However, the fundamental mechanisms underlying the chiral-induced phenomena remain to be understood fully. In this work, we explore the impact of chirality on spin angular momentum in hybrid metal/chiral molecule thin-film heterostructures. For this, we inject a pure spin current via spin pumping and investigate the spin-to-charge conversion at the hybrid chiral interface. Notably, we observe a chiral-induced unidirectionality in the conversion. Furthermore, angle-dependent measurements reveal that the spin selectivity is maximum when the spin angular momentum is aligned with the molecular chiral axis. Our findings validate the central role of spin angular momentum for the CISS effect, paving the path toward three-dimensional functionalization of hybrid molecule-metal devices via chirality.
对电子通过手性分子的自旋相关输运的观察，促成了手性诱导自旋选择性（CISS）的发现。由于未来可持续混合手性分子磁应用的巨大潜力，自旋极化效应的极高效率最近引起了广泛关注。然而，手性诱导现象背后的基本机制仍有待充分理解。在这项工作中，我们探索了手性对混合金属/手性分子薄膜异质结构中自旋角动量的影响。为此，我们通过自旋泵浦注入纯自旋电流，并研究混合手性界面处的自旋到电荷的转换。值得注意的是，我们在转换中观察到了手性诱导的单向性。此外，角度相关测量表明，当自旋角动量与分子手性轴对齐时，自旋选择性最大。我们的发现验证了自旋角动量在CISS效应中的核心作用，为通过手性实现混合分子-金属器件的三维功能化铺平了道路。
