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The effect of spin transport on spin lifetime in nanoscale systems

Nature Nanotechnology volume 9, pages 343–347 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Spintronics use the electron spin as a state variable for information processing and storage1. This requires manipulation of spin ensembles for data encoding, and spin transport for information transfer. Because of the central importance of lifetime for understanding and controlling spins, mechanisms that determine this lifetime in bulk systems have been extensively studied. However, a clear understanding of few-spin systems remains challenging. Here, we report spatially resolved magnetic resonance studies of electron spin ensembles confined to a ‘spin nanowire’ formed by nitrogen ion implantation in diamond. We measure the spin lifetime of the ensemble—that is, its spin autocorrelation time—by monitoring the statistical fluctuations2 of its net moment, which is in thermal equilibrium and has no imposed polarization gradient. We find that the lifetime of the ensemble is dominated by spin transport from the ensemble into the adjacent spin reservoir that is provided by the remainder of the nanowire. This is in striking contrast to conventional spin-lattice relaxation measurements of isolated spin ensembles. Electron spin resonance spectroscopy performed on nanoscale spin ensembles by means of a novel spin manipulation protocol corroborates spin transport in strong field gradients. Our experiments, supported by microscopic Monte Carlo modelling, provide a unique insight into the intrinsic dynamics of pure spin currents needed for nanoscale devices that seek to control spins.

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Figure 1: MRFM spin wire set-up, schematic of spin dynamics in wire, and spin noise measurements.
Figure 2: Comparison of piOSCAR and iOSCAR resonance protocols.
Figure 3: Hyperfine spectrum measurement for spin wire.

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Acknowledgements

The research presented in this Letter was supported by the Army Research Office (grant no. W911NF-09-1-0147), the National Science Foundation (NSF, grant no. DMR-0807093), the Center for Emergent Materials (CEM), an NSF-funded MRSEC grant (no. DMR-0820414) and the NanoSystems Laboratory at Ohio State University. The authors thank R. J. Furnstahl for valuable discussions related to this research.

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Author notes

  1. Jeremy Cardellino and Nicolas Scozzaro: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, 43210, Ohio, USA

    Jeremy Cardellino, Nicolas Scozzaro, Michael Herman, Andrew J. Berger, Chi Zhang, Kin Chung Fong, Ciriyam Jayaprakash, Denis V. Pelekhov & P. Chris Hammel

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  1. Jeremy Cardellino
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Contributions

M.R.H. and K.C.F. designed and built the experimental probe. M.R.H. conceived the experiments. M.R.H. and J.D.C. performed the experiments. J.D.C. and N.S. performed the simulations. J.D.C., N.S., M.R.H. and D.V.P. analysed the data. C.Z. contributed theoretical analysis. A.J.B., J.D.C., N.S., D.V.P., C.J. and P.C.H. wrote the paper. P.C.H. supervised the project.

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Correspondence to P. Chris Hammel.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Cardellino, J., Scozzaro, N., Herman, M. et al. The effect of spin transport on spin lifetime in nanoscale systems. Nature Nanotech 9, 343–347 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.39

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