Topological phonons in an inhomogeneously strained silicon-2: Evidence of spin-momentum locking

TL;DR

This paper provides experimental evidence of spin-momentum locking in topological phonons within strained silicon, revealing potential for advanced spintronic and spin-caloritronic applications at room temperature.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of spin-momentum locking in topological phonons in strained silicon, linking phononic topological states to spin-dependent phenomena.

Findings

Observation of spin-momentum locking in strained silicon phonons

Detection of transverse thermal spin current and spin-Nernst response

Crystallography-dependent magneto thermopower response

Abstract

In this study, we report first experimental evidence of spin-momentum locking in the topological phonons in an inhomogeneously strained Si thin film. The spin-momentum locking in the topological phonons lead to a longitudinal spin texture or spatially inhomogeneous spin distribution in the freestanding sample structure. The spin texture was uncovered using location dependent Hall effect and planar Hall effect measurement. The charge carrier density and anomalous Hall resistance showed a linear behavior along the length of the sample. Similarly, the planar Hall resistance related with the spin dependent scattering was also found to be different at two different location along the length of the sample. The spin-momentum locking also gave rise to transverse thermal spin current and spin-Nernst magneto thermopower response, which was uncovered using angle dependent longitudinal second harmonic measurement. The magneto thermopower response was also a function of crystallography of the Si sample where the sign of the response was opposite for <110> and <100> aligned samples. The spin-momentum locking in topological phonons may give rise to large spin dependent response at and above room temperature, which can pave the way for energy efficient spintronics and spin-caloritronics devices.