Spin orbit coupling in heavy metals allows conversion of unpolarized light into an open-circuit voltage. We experimentally prove that this photo-spin voltaic effect is due to photo-excitation of carriers in the proximized layer and can exist for light in the visible range. While carrying out the experiment, we discovered that, in closed-circuit conditions, the anisotropic magnetoresistance of the proximized metal is a function of the light intensity. We name this effect photo-magnetoresistance. A magneto-transport model is presented that describes the change of magnetoresistance as a function of the light intensity.
@article{arxiv.1708.04130,
title = {Photo-spin voltaic effect and photo-magnetoresistance in proximized platinum},
author = {D. Li and A. Ruotolo},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1708.04130},
year = {2017}
}