Singleatomic

Nanotechnology

Single-atomic metal layer reveals unexpected spin-polarized current control by light

When circularly polarized light is applied to a thallium-lead alloy, the majority of the electrons “up-spin” and flow in the correct direction (spin-polarized current). Credit: Taniuchi et al. 2025 Researchers at the University of Tokyo have demonstrated that the direction of spin-polarized current is restricted to only one direction in a single atomic layer of a thallium-lead alloy when irradiated…