Title: Optospintronics in graphene via proximity coupling,
Abstract: The observation of micron size spin relaxation makes graphene a promising
material for applications in spintronics requiring long distance spin
communication. However, spin dependent scatterings at the contact/graphene
interfaces affect the spin injection efficiencies and hence prevent the
material from achieving its full potential. While this major issue could be
eliminated by nondestructive direct optical spin injection schemes, graphenes
intrinsically low spin orbit coupling strength and optical absorption place an
obstacle in their realization. We overcome this challenge by creating sharp
artificial interfaces between graphene and WSe2 monolayers. Application of a
circularly polarized light activates the spin polarized charge carriers in the
WSe2 layer due to its spin coupled valley selective absorption. These carriers
diffuse into the superjacent graphene layer, transport over a 3.5 um distance,
and are finally detected electrically using BN/Co contacts in a non local
geometry. Polarization dependent measurements confirm the spin origin of the
non local signal.