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    Electric-field control of pure spin photocurrent in germanene

    Yaqing Yang1, Zhen Zhang2, Liwen Zhang3, Liantuan Xiao1,4, Suotang Jia1,4, Jun Chen2,4,*, and Lei Zhang1,4,†

    • 1State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics Technologies and Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
    • 2State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
    • 3School of Physics and Information Engineering, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan 030031, China
    • 4Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China

    • *Contact author: chenjun@sxu.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: zhanglei@sxu.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. Applied 24, 064009 – Published 2 December, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/q7h6-xppq

    Abstract

    The electrical control of pure spin current remains a central challenge in spintronics, particularly in time-reversal symmetric systems composed of nonmagnetic elements, where spin and electric fields interact only indirectly. In this work, we develop a theoretical framework for electrically tuning pure spin photocurrent in two-dimensional materials with time-reversal symmetry via a gate electric field. Through theoretical analysis, we demonstrate that in systems with spin-orbit coupling and in-plane mirror symmetry, an out-of-plane electric field induces spin splitting and reversal in the band structure near the Fermi energy, enabling magnitude control and direction reversal of the pure spin photocurrent. To validate this mechanism, we perform first-principles calculations on germanene, an experimentally realized two-dimensional material. Beyond amplitude modulation, we reveal that reversing the direction of the applied electric field leads to a corresponding reversal of the pure spin photocurrent. Furthermore, we show that the pure spin photocurrent can be tuned by varying the photon energy and the incident angle of light, providing additional degrees of control over spin transport. These findings establish a robust strategy for electric-field-controlled pure spin transport in two-dimensional materials, offering possibilities for the development of optospintronic devices.

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