Generation, transport and detection of valley-locked spin photocurrent in WSe2–graphene–Bi2Se3 heterostructures

Quantum optoelectronic devices capable of isolating a target degree of freedom (DoF) from other DoFs have allowed for new applications in modern information technology. Many works on solid-state spintronics have focused on methods to disentangle the spin DoF from the charge DoF¹, yet many related issues remain unresolved. Although the recent advent of atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) has enabled the use of valley pseudospin as an alternative DoF^2,3, it is nontrivial to separate the spin DoF from the valley DoF since the time-reversal valley DoF is intrinsically locked with the spin DoF⁴. Here, we demonstrate lateral TMD–graphene–topological insulator hetero-devices with the possibility of such a DoF-selective measurement. We generate the valley-locked spin DoF via a circular photogalvanic effect in an electric-double-layer WSe₂ transistor. The valley-locked spin photocarriers then diffuse in a submicrometre-long graphene layer, and the spin DoF is measured separately in the topological insulator via non-local electrical detection using the characteristic spin–momentum locking. Operating at room temperature, our integrated devices exhibit a non-local spin polarization degree of higher than 0.5, providing the potential for coupled opto-spin–valleytronic applications that independently exploit the valley and spin DoFs.