Surface-state mediated spin-to-charge conversion in Sb films via bilateral spin current injection

TL;DR

This study demonstrates surface-state mediated spin-to-charge conversion in Sb films through bilateral spin current injection, revealing a mechanism akin to the inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect driven by surface states.

Contribution

It introduces a novel spin-to-charge conversion mechanism in Sb films mediated by surface states, studied via bilateral spin pumping.

Findings

Surface states enable spin-to-charge conversion in Sb.

The mechanism resembles the inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect.

Bilateral spin current injection effectively probes surface-mediated effects.

Abstract

The spin-to-charge conversion phenomena is investigated in a trilayer structure consisting of Co(12 nm)/Sb(t)/Py(12 nm), where the thickness t of the antimony layer is varied. Using the spin-pumping technique, a pure spin current is injected from both FM layers into the middle layer, the DC voltage is then measured. We observe a spin-to-charge mechanism in the Sb layer that exhibits striking similarities to the inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect (IREE), driven by surface states.