Reversible spin storage in metal oxide—fullerene heterojunctions

Moorsom, T. et al. (2020) Reversible spin storage in metal oxide—fullerene heterojunctions. Science Advances, 6(12), eaax1085. (doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aax1085) (PMID:32219155) (PMCID:PMC7083605)

Abstract

We show that hybrid MnOx/C60 heterojunctions can be used to design a storage device for spin-polarized charge: a spin capacitor. Hybridization at the carbon-metal oxide interface leads to spin-polarized charge trapping after an applied voltage or photocurrent. Strong electronic structure changes, including a 1-eV energy shift and spin polarization in the C60 lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, are then revealed by x-ray absorption spectroscopy, in agreement with density functional theory simulations. Muon spin spectroscopy measurements give further independent evidence of local spin ordering and magnetic moments optically/electronically stored at the heterojunctions. These spin-polarized states dissipate when shorting the electrodes. The spin storage decay time is controlled by magnetic ordering at the interface, leading to coherence times of seconds to hours even at room temperature.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by EPSRC grant nos. EP/M000923/1, EP/K036408/1, and EP/I004483/1. M.V. acknowledges Mineco grant FIS2016-7859-C3-2-R (AEI/FEDER, UE). ALBA beamtime access via proposal IDs (2017092385 and/or 2015091530). We acknowledge use of the N8 High Performance Computing (HPC) (EPSRC EP/K000225/1), ARCHER (via the UK Car-Parrinello Consortium, EP/K013610/1 and EP/P022189/1), and U.K. Materials and Molecular Modelling Hub (EPSRC EP/P020194/1) HCP facilities.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Moorsom, Dr Timothy
• Authors: Moorsom, T., Rogers, M., Scivetti, I., Bandaru, S., Teobaldi, G., Valvidares, M., Flokstra, M., Lee, S., Stewart, R., Prokscha, T., Gargiani, P., Alosaimi, N., Stefanou, G., Ali, M., Al Ma'Mari, F., Burnell, G., Hickey, B.J., and Cespedes, O.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Science Advances
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• ISSN: 2375-2548
• ISSN (Online): 2375-2548
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Science Advances 6(12): eaax1085
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License