The control and manipulation of the electron spin in semiconductors is central to spintronics, which aims to represent digital information using spin orientation rather than electron charge. Such spin-based technologies may have a profound impact on nanoelectronics, data storage, and logic and computer architectures. Recently it has become possible to induce and detect spin polarization in otherwise non-magnetic semiconductors (gallium arsenide and silicon) using all-electrical structures, but so far only at temperatures below 150 K and in n-type materials, which limits further development. Here we demonstrate room-temperature electrical injection of spin polarization into n-type and p-type silicon from a ferromagnetic tunnel contact, spin manipulation using the Hanle effect and the electrical detection of the induced spin accumulation. A spin splitting as large as 2.9 meV is created in n-type silicon, corresponding to an electron spin polarization of 4.6%. The extracted spin lifetime is greater than 140 ps for conduction electrons in heavily doped n-type silicon at 300 K and greater than 270 ps for holes in heavily doped p-type silicon at the same temperature. The spin diffusion length is greater than 230 nm for electrons and 310 nm for holes in the corresponding materials. These results open the way to the implementation of spin functionality in complementary silicon devices and electronic circuits operating at ambient temperature, and to the exploration of their prospects and the fundamental rules that govern their behaviour.

Heat generation by electric current, which is ubiquitous in electronic devices and circuits, raises energy consumption and will become increasingly problematic in future generations of high-density electronics. The control and re-use of heat are therefore important topics for existing and emerging technologies, including spintronics. Recently it was reported that heat flow within a ferromagnet can produce a flow of spin angular momentum-a spin current-and an associated voltage. This spin Seebeck effect has been observed in metallic, insulating and semiconductor ferromagnets with temperature gradients across them. Here we describe and report the demonstration of Seebeck spin tunnelling-a distinctly different thermal spin flow, of purely interfacial nature-generated in a tunnel contact between electrodes of different temperatures when at least one of the electrodes is a ferromagnet. The Seebeck spin current is governed by the energy derivative of the tunnel spin polarization. By exploiting this in ferromagnet-oxide-silicon tunnel junctions, we observe thermal transfer of spins from the ferromagnet to the silicon without a net tunnel charge current. The induced spin accumulation scales linearly with heating power and changes sign when the temperature differential is reversed. This thermal spin current can be used by itself, or in combination with electrical spin injection, to increase device efficiency. The results highlight the engineering of heat transport in spintronic devices and facilitate the functional use of heat.

Although the creation of spin polarization in various nonmagnetic media via electrical spin injection from a ferromagnetic tunnel contact has been demonstrated, much of the basic behavior is heavily debated. It is reported here that, for semiconductor/Al 2 O 3 /ferromagnet tunnel structures based on Si or GaAs, local magnetostatic fields arising from interface roughness dramatically alter and even dominate the accumulation and dynamics of spins in the semiconductor. Spin precession in inhomogeneous magnetic fields is shown to reduce the spin accumulation up to tenfold, and causes it to be inhomogeneous and noncollinear with the injector magnetization. The inverted Hanle effect serves as the experimental signature. This interaction needs to be taken into account in the analysis of experimental data, particularly in extracting the spin lifetime τ s and its variation with different parameters (temperature, doping concentration). It produces a broadening of the standard Hanle curve and thereby an apparent reduction of τ s . For heavily doped n-type Si at room temperature it is shown that τ s is larger than previously determined, and a new lower bound of 0.29 ns is obtained. The results are expected to be general and to occur for spins near a magnetic interface not only in semiconductors but also in metals and organic and carbon-based materials including graphene, and in various spintronic device structures.

In silicon spintronics, the unique qualities of ferromagnetic materials are combined with those of silicon, aiming at creating an alternative, energy-efficient information technology in which digital data are represented by the orientation of the electron spin. Here we review the cornerstones of silicon spintronics, namely the creation, detection and manipulation of spin polarization in silicon. Ferromagnetic tunnel contacts are the key elements and provide a robust and viable approach to induce and probe spins in silicon, at room temperature. We describe the basic physics of spin tunneling into silicon, the spin-transport devices, the materials aspects and engineering of the magnetic tunnel contacts, and discuss important quantities such as the magnitude of the spin accumulation and the spin lifetime in the silicon. We highlight key experimental achievements and recent progress in the development of a spin-based information technology.

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Designing a material with novel sensing properties under extreme working conditions has remained a challenging task. Here, we report a facile two-step approach to develop a MoS 2 /MoO 3 composite with enhanced surface properties. When used as a gas sensor at 25 °C, it displayed superior sensing properties, selectivity, and a stable response toward ammonia against various reducing and oxidizing gases under highly humid conditions (relative humidity ≈ 95%). The composite exhibited a relative response of ≈55% (15% for 1 ppm) toward 50 ppm of NH 3 with smaller response τ res. and recovery τ rev. times of 45 and 53 s, respectively. It also displayed complete recovery without any external optical or thermal stimulus. The enhanced sensing properties of the composite are attributed to the synergistic effect arising from heterostructure formation between two base materials. The sensor displayed a decrease in resistance when exposed to NH 3 , a reducing gas, thus indicating its n-type character, which was further confirmed by performing Mott−Schottky (MS) measurements on MoS 2 and the MoS 2 /MoO 3 composite, both displaying n-type behavior with increased electron densities of the composite. Further, to understand the adsorption process and the resulting sensing properties, density functional theory simulations were performed using a pristine and a defect-enriched MoS 2 /MoO 3 surface. Large negative adsorption energies (for NH 3 ) of −344 and −519 meV, respectively, reflect that the adsorption process is feasible, and mechanism change from physisorption to chemisorption is predicted. Bader scheme was employed to evaluate the charge transfer between the NH 3 molecule and the pristine (defect-enriched) MoS 2 /MoO 3 surface and gave an amount of 0.073e (0.010e). Therefore, these results collectively justify the use of the MoS 2 /MoO 3 composite as a selective NH 3 sensor that can operate in humid air and environmental monitoring applications where such conditions exist.

This article demonstrates the use of a p-MoS2/n-WO3 heterojunctions based ultra sensitive and selective chemiresistive ammonia sensor that operates at 200◦ C. Surprisingly, the composite based sensor exhibited significant enhancement in ammonia sensing as compared to MoS2 (p-type) and WO3 (n-type) counterparts. The device also displayed excellent response-recovery features over a wider range of ammonia concentration together with superior selective nature toward ammonia as compared acetone, ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, formaldehyde, benzene, and hydrogen sulfide. Empowered by better signal-to-noise ratio, ammonia detection down to 1 ppm has become possible and can be further improved with the use of serpentine type electrodes. The device has shown a relative response of 207% for 200 ppm of ammonia with response and recovery times of 80 and 70 s, respectively. Moreover, these experimental results were further supplemented by density functional theory (DFT) simulation that were used to understand the adsorption kinetics and the sensing mechanism. A significant amount of charge transfer (0.082 e) between the adsorbed ammonia molecule and the MoS2/WO3 surface has been predicted by Bader analysis. Analysis also revealed a large negative adsorption energy ≈3.86 eV (373 kJ/mol) per ammonia molecule, implying the adsorption process to be chemisorption in nature. The band structure analysis further confirmed that ammonia adsorption on MoS2/WO3 is accompanied by an increase in band gap (by ≈ 96 meV). The present work illustrates the potential use of composite based heterostructures for monitoring ammonia gas in real fields.

We report a highly sensitive and selective ammonia (NH 3 ) gas sensor made from liquid exfoliated MoSe 2 nanosheets. The powder obtained after exfoliation was used to make a two-terminal sensor on a quartz substrate with predeposited silver contacts. The device so obtained, exhibited excellent sensitivity (5.5%) at an ammonia concentration down to 1 ppm, a fast response and recovery time of 15 and 135 s, respectively, better reproducibility, and impressive selectivity against various gases at room temperature. Moreover, density functional theory (DFT) simulations were used to understand the adsorption kinetic and electronic structure and therefore to shed light on the fundamentals of the sensing mechanism. Bader analysis was performed to understand the charge transfer process between the adsorbed ammonia gas molecule and underlying MoSe 2 surface. The resulting analysis confirmed that the electrons transfer from NH 3 molecules to MoSe 2 . The slight shift of the valence band toward the Fermi level which is clear from band structure analysis, along with the experimental fact that after exposure to ammonia the sensor displays an increase in resistance, indicates p-type behavior of the processed MoSe 2 crystalline nanosheets. These results imply the potential use of scaled nanosheets of MoSe 2 as a promising sensing material for enhanced and selective NH 3 gas monitoring at room-temperature.