Spin-momentum locked interaction between guided photons and surface electrons in topological insulators

Siyuan Luo, Li He and Mo Li ()
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Siyuan Luo: University of Minnesota
Li He: University of Minnesota
Mo Li: University of Minnesota

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The propagation of electrons and photons can respectively have the spin-momentum locking effect which correlates spin with linear momentum. For surface electrons in three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs), their spin is locked to the transport direction. Analogously, photons in optical waveguides carry transverse spin angular momentum which is also locked to the propagation direction. A direct connection between electron and photon spins occurs in TIs due to spin-dependent selection rules of optical transitions. Here we demonstrate an optoelectronic device that integrates a TI with a photonic waveguide. Interaction between photons in the waveguide and surface electrons in a Bi2Se3 layer generates a directional, spin-polarized photocurrent. Because of spin-momentum locking, changing light propagation direction reverses photon spin and thus the direction of the photocurrent. Our device represents a way of implementing coupled spin–orbit interaction between electrons and photons and may lead to applications in opto-spintronics and quantum information processing.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02264-y

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