When circular polarised light is irradiated onto a thallium lead alloy, the majority ‘up spins’ of electrons flow in the right direction (spin-polarised current). Credit: Taniuchi et al 2025. CC BY.
Scientists demonstrate that light can interact even with single-atom layers, paving the way for more environmentally friendly data storage.
Researchers Ibuki Taniuchi, Ryota Akiyama, Rei Hobara, and Shuji Hasegawa of the University of Tokyo have demonstrated that the direction of the spin-polarised current can be restricted to only one direction in a single-atom layer of a thallium-lead alloys when irradiated at room temperature.
The discovery defies conventions: single-atom layers have been thought to be almost completely transparent, in other words, negligibly absorbing or interacting with light.
The one-directional flow of the current observed in this study makes possible functionality beyond ordinary diodes, paving the way for more environmentally friendly data storage, ultra-fine two-dimensional spintronic devices, in the future.
Diodes are fundamental building blocks of modern electronics by restricting the flow of currents to only one direction.
However, the thinner the device the more complicated it becomes to design and manufacture these functional components.
Thus, demonstrating phenomena that might make such developmental feats possible is critical.
Spintronics is an area of study in which researchers manipulate the intrinsic angular momentum (spin) of electrons, for example, by applying light.
Akiyama said: “Spintronics had traditionally dealt with thicker materials. However, we had been more interested in very thin systems because of their inherently exciting properties.
“So, we wanted to combine the two and investigate the conversion of light to spin-polarised current in a two-dimensional system.”
Circular photogalvanic effect
The conversion of light to spin-polarised current is called the circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE).
In the spin-polarised current, the spins of electrons align in one direction, restricting the flow of the electrical current to one direction depending on the polarisation of light.
The phenomenon is similar to conventional diodes in which the electrical current can only flow in one direction depending on the polarity of the voltage.
The researchers used thallium-lead alloys to see if this phenomenon could be observed even in layers as thin as a single atom (two-dimensional systems).
They conducted the experiments in an ultra-high vacuum to avoid adsorption and oxidation of the material so that they could reveal its ‘true colours’.
When the researchers irradiated the alloys with circular polarised light, they could observe the changes in direction and magnitude of the flowing electrical current.
Akiyama said: “Even more surprisingly it was a spin-polarised current: the direction of the electron spin was aligned with the direction of the current due to the novel properties of these thin alloys.”
These thin alloys previously developed by the team showed unique electronic properties, giving the team a hint for the current study by chance.
Armed with this new knowledge, Akiyama is looking to the future: “These results show that basic research is crucial for applications and development. In this study, we aimed to observe an optimised system.
“As the next step, in addition to searching for novel two-dimensional thin alloys with unique electronic properties, we would like to use a lower energy (terahertz) laser to narrow the excitation paths that induce CPGE.
“This way we could increase the conversion efficiency from light to spin-polarised current.”
The research is published in ACS Nano.
