Pure spin currents in Ge probed by inverse spin-Hall effect

Abstract

We perform photoinduced inverse spin-Hall effect (ISHE) measurements on a Pt/Ge(001) junction at room temperature. The spin-oriented electrons are photogenerated at the Γ point of the Ge Brillouin zone using circularly-polarized light. After the ultrafast Γ−L scattering in the Ge conduction band, which partially preserves the spin polarization, electrons diffuse into the Pt layer where spin-dependent scattering with Pt nuclei yields a transverse electromotive field EISHE. The ISHE signal dependence as a function of the incident photon energy is investigated and interpreted in the frame of a one-dimensional spin drift-diffusion model. This allows estimating the electron spin lifetime at the L-valleys to be τs=1 ns.