Ferroelectric Control of Spin-Charge Interconversion

Spin-orbit coupling enables the generation of spin currents from charge currents or vice versa using nonmagnetic materials. As such, it opens the way to novel device applications such as SOT-MRAM that harness the spin-orbit torque produced by heavy metals through the spin Hall effect, or a new generation of broadband THz emitters. Besides the spin Hall effect, spin-charge interconversion can also be realized using the Edelstein effect in systems with Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Rashba systems include interfaces between heavy elements, semiconductor surfaces or two-dimensional electron gases such as those occurring at interface of SrTiO₃ or KTaO₃ with other insulating oxides. Recently, the possibility to control the Rashba SOC and spin-charge interconversion electrically and in a nonvolatile way through ferroelectricity has emerged¹. This led to in-memory computing device proposals operating at very low power, based on spin and with a nonvolatile character arising from ferroelectricity rather than ferromagnetism². In this presentation, we will present various approaches to realize the ferroelectric control of spin-charge interconversion and the prospects for future logic-in-memory architectures.<br/>1. Noël, P. <i>et al.</i> <b>Nature</b> 580, 483 (2020).<br/>2. Trier, F. <i>et al.</i> <b>Nat Rev Mater</b> 7, 258 (2022).