Photon-gated spin transistor

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel spin-FET device that uses optical gating via LED light to control spin-polarized currents, offering potential for low power and ultrafast spintronic applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates the first photon-gated spin-FET, expanding the concept of spintronic devices with optical control mechanisms.

Findings

Photon-gated spin-FET exhibits strong light power dependence.

Reproducible resistance enhancement under illumination.

Enhanced scattering of spin-polarized current by photon-excited spins.

Abstract

Spin-polarized field-effect transistor (spin-FET), where a dielectric layer is generally employed for the electrical gating as the traditional FET, stands out as a seminal spintronic device under the miniaturization trend of electronics. It would be fundamentally transformative if optical gating was used for spin-FET. We report a new type of spin-polarized field-effect transistor (spin-FET) with optical gating, which is fabricated by partial exposure of the (La,Sr)MnO3 channel to light-emitting diode (LED) light. The manipulation of the channel conductivity is ascribed to the enhanced scattering of the spin-polarized current by photon-excited antiparallel aligned spins. And the photon-gated spin-FET shows strong light power dependence and reproducible enhancement of resistance under light illumination, indicting well-defined conductivity cycling features. Our finding would enrich the concept of spin-FET and promote the use of optical means in spintronics for low power consumption and ultrafast data processing.