Surface magnetic stabilization and the photo-emission chiral-induced spin-selectivity effect

TL;DR

This paper explains the CISS effect through surface magnetic stabilization at interfaces and develops a theory linking photoemission CISS to chiral axis and surface properties, offering testable predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a new surface magnetic stabilization mechanism for CISS and formulates a predictive theory connecting photoemission CISS with interface and chiral molecule properties.

Findings

Surface magnetic moments are stabilized across realistic parameters.

The magnetic moment direction aligns with the chiral axis.

Predictions relate photoemission CISS to surface and detector geometry.

Abstract

The spinterface mechanism was suggested as a possible origin for the chirality induced spin-selectivity (CISS) effect, and was used to explain and reproduce, with remarkable accuracy, experimental data from transport experiments showing the CISS effect. Here, we apply the spinterface mechanism to explain the appearance of magnetization at the interface between non-magnetic metals and chiral molecules, through the stabilization of other-wise fluctuating magnetic moments. We show that the stabilization of surface magnetic moments occurs for a wide range of realistic parameters and is robust against dephasing. Importantly, we show that the direction of the surface magnetic moments is determined by the chiral axis of the chiral molecules. Armed with the concept of stable surface magnetic moments, we then formulated a theory for the photoemission CISS effect. The theory, based on spin-dependent scattering, leads to direct predictions regarding the relation between the photoemission CISS effect, the chiral axis direction, the spinterface "size", and the tilt angle of the detector with respect to the surface. These predictions are within reach of current experimental capabilities, and may shed new light on the origin of the CISS effect.