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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
When electrons are injected through a chiral molecule, the resulting current may become spin polarized. This effect, known as the chirality-induced spin-selectivity (CISS) effect, has been suggested to emerge due to the interplay between spin–orbit interactions and the chirality within the molecule. However, such explanations require unrealistically large values for the molecular spin–orbit interaction without any physical justification. Put simply, to date, the physical origin of the CISS effect is unknown. Here, we present the “spinterface mechanism†for the CISS effect, based on the interplay between spin–orbit interactions in the electrode, the chirality of the molecule (which induces a solenoid field), and spin-transfer torque at the molecule–electrode interface. We will explain the mechanism in detail, and show how it can be used to quantitatively reproduce various experimental results (to date, this theory is the only one that can do that). We will suggest some experiments that can corroborate the spinterface mechanism, and (time permitting) show how it can also explain the photo-induced CISS effect.
Host: Kirill Velizhanin (T-1)