Evidence of Pure Spin-Current Generated by Spin Pumping in Interface-Localized States in Hybrid Metal–Silicon–Metal Vertical Structures

Due to the difficulty of growing high-quality semiconductors on ferromagnetic metals, the study of spin diffusion transport in Si was limited to lateral geometry devices. In this work, by using an ultrahigh-vacuum wafer-bonding technique, we have successfully fabricated metal–semiconductor–metal CoFeB/MgO/Si/Pt vertical structures. We hereby demonstrate pure spin-current injection and transport in the perpendicular current flow geometry over a distance larger than 2 μm in n-type Si at room temperature. In those experiments, a pure propagating spin current is generated via ferromagnetic resonance spin pumping and converted into a measurable voltage by using the inverse spin Hall effect occurring in the top Pt layer. A systematic study varying both Si and MgO thicknesses reveals the important role played by the localized states at the MgO–Si interface for the spin-current generation. Proximity effects involving indirect exchange interactions between the ferromagnet and the MgO–Si interface states appears to be a prerequisite to establishing the necessary out-of-equilibrium spin population in Si under the spin-pumping action.