Efficient spin to charge current conversion in the 2D semiconductor MoS2 by spin pumping from yttrium iron garnet

We report efficient spin to charge current conversion in the 2D transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductor MoS₂ at room temperature. The spin current is generated by microwave-driven ferromagnetic resonance spin pumping in a film of the ferrimagnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) in atomic contact with the MoS₂ layer. The use of insulating YIG allows the observation of a field-symmetric voltage signal without the contamination of asymmetrical lines due to spin rectification effects observed in studies using metallic ferromagnets. The observed voltage is attributed to spin-to-charge current conversion based on the inverse Edelstein effect (IEE) made possible by the spin-momentum locking in the electron Fermi contours due to the Rashba field. The measured IEE coefficient is two orders of magnitude larger than in graphene and is comparable to or larger than the values reported for some metallic interfaces and for several topological insulators.