Dissipationless Quantum Spin Current at Room Temperature

TL;DR

This paper predicts that electric fields can generate significant dissipationless quantum spin currents at room temperature in common semiconductors, enabling low-power, reversible quantum spintronic devices without ferromagnets.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical prediction of room-temperature dissipationless spin currents in semiconductors, expanding quantum spintronics beyond low-temperature regimes.

Findings

Electric fields induce dissipationless spin currents in semiconductors.

Spin injection can be achieved without ferromagnetic materials.

Potential for low-power, reversible quantum devices.

Abstract

While microscopic laws of physics are invariant under the reversal of the arrow of time, the transport of energy and information in most devices is an irreversible process. It is this irreversibility that leads to intrinsic dissipations in electronic devices and limits the possibility of quantum computation. We theoreticallypredict that the electric field can induce a substantial amount of dissipationless quantum spin current at room temperature, in hole doped semiconductors such as Si, Ge and GaAs. Based on a generalization of the quantum Hall effect, the predicted effect leads to efficient spin injection without the need for metallic ferromagnets. Principles found in this work could enable quantum spintronic devices with integrated information processing and storage units, operating with low power consumption and performing reversible quantum computation.