Electron-Hole Asymmetry of Spin Injection and Transport in Single-Layer Graphene

Abstract

Spin-dependent properties of single-layer graphene (SLG) have been studied by nonlocal spin valve measurements at room temperature. Gate voltage dependence shows that the nonlocal magnetoresistance (MR) is proportional to the conductivity of the SLG, which is the predicted behavior for transparent ferromagnetic-nonmagnetic contacts. While the electron and hole bands in SLG are symmetric, gate voltage and bias dependence of the nonlocal MR reveal an electron-hole asymmetry in which the nonlocal MR is roughly independent of bias for electrons, but varies significantly with bias for holes.