Proposal for a local heating driven spin current generator

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel two-terminal spin-orbit interferometer that uses local heating of a molecule to generate pure spin currents through spin-dependent interference and inelastic scattering, without external voltage or temperature bias.

Contribution

It presents a new device concept that converts heat flow into spin-polarized currents using vibrationally coupled molecules in a spintronic interferometer.

Findings

Heat flow induces spin currents via vibrational modes.

Device operates without voltage or temperature difference.

Spin current generation relies on wave interference and inelastic scattering.

Abstract

We propose a two-terminal spin-orbit interferometer with a hot molecule inserted in one of its arms to generate pure spin currents. Local heating is achieved by coupling the vibrational modes of the molecule to a third (phononic) reservoir. We show that this spin calorimetric effect is due to the combined influence of spin-dependent wave interference and inelastic scattering. Remarkably, the device converts heat flow into spin-polarized current even without applying any voltage or temperature difference to the electronic terminals.