Contact-induced spin polarization of monolayer hexagonal boron nitride on Ni(111)

Journal Article · Mon Feb 03 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4863324· OSTI ID:22283299

Ohtomo, Manabu; Entani, Shiro; Matsumoto, Yoshihiro; Naramoto, Hiroshi; Sakai, Seiji ^[1]; Yamauchi, Yasushi ^[2]; Kuzubov, Alex A.; Eliseeva, Natalya S. ^[3]; Avramov, Pavel V. ^[1]

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1. Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy, Agency 2-4 Shirakata-Shirane, Tokai, Naka, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan)
2. National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan)
3. L.V. Kirensky Institute of Physics SB RAS, Academgorodok, Krasnoyarsk 660036 (Russian Federation)

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a promising barrier material for graphene spintronics. In this Letter, spin-polarized metastable de-excitation spectroscopy (SPMDS) is employed to study the spin-dependent electronic structure of monolayer h-BN/Ni(111). The extreme surface sensitivity of SPMDS enables us to elucidate a partial filling of the in-gap states of h-BN without any superposition of Ni 3d signals. The in-gap states are shown to have a considerable spin polarization parallel to the majority spin of Ni. The positive spin polarization is attributed to the π-d hybridization and the effective spin transfer to the nitrogen atoms at the h-BN/Ni(111) interface.

• OSTI ID: 22283299
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY
ATOMS
BORON NITRIDES
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DE-EXCITATION
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
GRAPHENE
INTERFACES
NICKEL
NITROGEN
SENSITIVITY
SPIN ORIENTATION
SURFACES