title: A sub-femtojoule electrical spin-switch based on optically trapped polariton condensates.
abstract: Practical challenges to extrapolating Moore's law favour alternatives to electrons as information carriers. Two promising candidates are spin-based and all-optical architectures, the former offering lower energy consumption, the latter superior signal transfer down to the level of chip-interconnects. Polaritons-spinor quasi-particles composed of semiconductor excitons and microcavity photons-directly couple exciton spins and photon polarizations, combining the advantages of both approaches. However, their implementation for spintronics has been hindered because polariton spins can be manipulated only optically or by strong magnetic fields. Here we use an external electric field to directly control the spin of a polariton condensate, bias-tuning the emission polarization. The nonlinear spin dynamics offers an alternative route to switching, allowing us to realize an electrical spin-switch exhibiting ultralow switching energies below 0.5 fJ. Our results lay the foundation for development of devices based on the electro-optical control of coherent spin ensembles on a chip.
authors: NanoPhotonics Centre, Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors: Alexander
authors: A
authors: Dreismann
authors: NanoPhotonics Centre, Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors: Hamid
authors: H
authors: Ohadi
authors: NanoPhotonics Centre, Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors: Yago
authors: Y
authors: Del Valle-Inclan Redondo
authors: NanoPhotonics Centre, Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors: Ryan
authors: R
authors: Balili
authors: Instituto de Energías Renovables, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Temixco, Morelos 62580, Mexico.
authors: Yuri G
authors: YG
authors: Rubo
authors: CCQCN, Department of Physics, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors: Simeon I
authors: SI
authors: Tsintzos
authors: Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, 71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors: George
authors: G
authors: Deligeorgis
authors: CCQCN, Department of Physics, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.|Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, 71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors: Zacharias
authors: Z
authors: Hatzopoulos
authors: NanoPhotonics Centre, Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.|Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, 71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.|Department of Materials Science and Technology, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors: Pavlos G
authors: 0000-0002-8186-6679
authors: PG
authors: Savvidis
authors: NanoPhotonics Centre, Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors: Jeremy J
authors: 0000-0002-9606-9488
authors: JJ
authors: Baumberg