Ultrafast spin-polarization control of Dirac fermions in topological insulators

被引:65
作者
Sanchez-Barriga, J. [1 ]
Golias, E. [1 ]
Varykhalov, A. [1 ]
Braun, J. [2 ]
Yashina, L. V. [3 ]
Schumann, R. [4 ]
Minar, J. [2 ,5 ]
Ebert, H. [2 ]
Kornilov, O. [4 ]
Rader, O. [1 ]
机构
[1] Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin Mat & Energie, Albert Einstein Str 15, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
[2] Univ Munich, Dept Chem, Butenandtstr 5-13, D-81377 Munich, Germany
[3] Moscow MV Lomonosov State Univ, Dept Chem, Leninskie Gory 1-3, Moscow 119991, Russia
[4] Max Born Inst, Max Born Str 2A, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
[5] Univ W Bohemia, New Technol Res Ctr, Univ 2732, Plzen 30614, Czech Republic
关键词
SPINTRONICS; MANIPULATION; TEXTURE; SURFACE; STATES;
D O I
10.1103/PhysRevB.93.155426
中图分类号
T [工业技术];
学科分类号
08 ;
摘要
Three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) are characterized by spin-polarized Dirac-cone surface states that are protected from backscattering by time-reversal symmetry. Control of the spin polarization of topological surface states (TSSs) using femtosecond light pulses opens novel perspectives for the generation and manipulation of dissipationless surface spin currents on ultrafast time scales. Using time-, spin-, and angle-resolved spectroscopy, we directly monitor the ultrafast response of the spin polarization of photoexcited TSSs to circularly polarized femtosecond pulses of infrared light. We achieve all-optical switching of the transient out-of-plane spin polarization, which relaxes in about 1.2 ps. Our observations establish the feasibility of ultrafast optical control of spin-polarized Dirac fermions in TIs and pave the way for optospintronic applications at ultimate speeds.
引用
收藏
页数:10
相关论文
共 52 条
[51]   Photoelectron Spin-Polarization Control in the Topological Insulator Bi2Se3 [J].
Zhu, Z-H ;
Veenstra, C. N. ;
Zhdanovich, S. ;
Schneider, M. P. ;
Okuda, T. ;
Miyamoto, K. ;
Zhu, S-Y ;
Namatame, H. ;
Taniguchi, M. ;
Haverkort, M. W. ;
Elfimov, I. S. ;
Damascelli, A. .
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 2014, 112 (07)
[52]   Spintronics: Fundamentals and applications [J].
Zutic, I ;
Fabian, J ;
Das Sarma, S .
REVIEWS OF MODERN PHYSICS, 2004, 76 (02) :323-410