We propose a four-terminal device designed to manipulate by all electrical means the spin of a magnetic adatom positioned at the edge of a quantum spin Hall insulator. We show that an electrical gate, able to tune the interface resistance between a quantum spin Hall insulator and the source and drain electrodes, can switch the device between two regimes: one where the system exhibits spin pumping and the other where the adatom remains in its ground state. This demonstrates an all-electrical route to control single spins by exploiting helical edge states of topological materials.
@article{arxiv.1311.7329,
title = {Gate controlled spin pumping at a quantum spin Hall edge},
author = {Awadhesh Narayan and Aaron Hurley and Stefano Sanvito},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1311.7329},
year = {2013}
}