Anatomy of nanomagnetic switching at a 3D Topological Insulator PN junction

TL;DR

This paper investigates the spin and charge dynamics at a 3D topological insulator PN junction, revealing how gate-tunable filtering affects spin torque and switching behavior, with implications for neuromorphic computing.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of spin-charge interactions at a topological insulator PN junction, including quantum kinetic modeling and magnetodynamic simulations, highlighting gate-controlled switching mechanisms.

Findings

Spin filtering at the junction induces charge-to-spin conversion.

Spin torque is limited by surface current density and bulk bandgap.

PN junction enables gate-tunable probabilistic switching of nanomagnets.

Abstract

A P-N junction engineered within a Dirac cone system acts as a gate tunable angular filter based on Klein tunneling. For a 3D topological insulator with substantial bandgap, such a filter can produce a charge-to-spin conversion due to the dual effects of spin-momentum locking and momentum filtering. We analyze how spins filtered at an in-plane topological insulator PN junction (TIPNJ) interact with a nanomagnet, and argue that the intrinsic charge-to-spin conversion does not translate to an external gain if the nanomagnet also acts as the source contact. Regardless of the nanomagnet's position, the spin torque generated on the TIPNJ is limited by the surface current density, which in turn is limited by bulk band gap. {Using quantum kinetic models, we calculate the spatially varying spin potential and quantify the localization of the current vs applied bias}. Additionally, with the magnetodynamic simulation of a soft nanomagnet, we show that the PN junction can offer a critical gate tunability in the switching probability of the nanomagnet, with potential applications in probabilistic neuromorphic computing.