Room temperature spin Hall effect in graphene/MoS 2 van der Waals heterostructures

• Published in: Nano letters 2019-02, Vol.19 (2), p.1074-1082
• Main Authors: Safeer, C K, Ingla-Aynés, Josep, Herling, Franz, Garcia Aguilar, Jose Hugo, Vila, Marc, Ontoso, Nerea, Calvo, M Reyes, Roche, Stephan, Hueso, Luis E, Casanova, Fèlix
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b04368

Graphene is an excellent material for long distance spin transport but allows little spin manipulation. Transition metal dichalcogenides imprint their strong spin-orbit coupling into graphene via proximity effect, and it has been predicted that efficient spin-to-charge conversion due to spin Hall and Rashba-Edelstein effects could be achieved. Here, by combining Hall probes with ferromagnetic electrodes, we unambiguously demonstrate experimentally spin Hall effect in graphene induced by MoS proximity and for varying temperature up to room temperature. The fact that spin transport and spin Hall effect occur in different parts of the same material gives rise to a hitherto unreported efficiency for the spin-to-charge voltage output. Remarkably for a single graphene/MoS heterostructure-based device, we evidence a superimposed spin-to-charge current conversion that can be indistinguishably associated with either the proximity-induced Rashba-Edelstein effect in graphene or the spin Hall effect in MoS . By comparing our results to theoretical calculations, the latter scenario is found the most plausible one. Our findings pave the way towards the combination of spin information transport and spin-to-charge conversion in two-dimensional materials, opening exciting opportunities in a variety of future spintronic applications.