Unraveling the Spin-to-Charge Current Conversion Mechanism and Charge Transfer Dynamics at Interface of Graphene/WS$_2$ Heterostructures at Room Temperature

Abstract: We report experimental investigations of spin-to-charge current conversion and charge transfer dynamics (CT) at the interface of graphene/WS$2$ van der Waals heterostructure. Pure spin current was produced by the spin precession in the microwave-driven ferromagnetic resonance of a permalloy film (Py-Ni${81}$Fe$_{19}$) and injected into the graphene/WS$_2$ heterostructure through the spin pumping process. The observed spin-to-charge current conversion in the heterostructure is attributed to inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect (IREE) at the graphene/WS$_2$ interface. Interfacial CT dynamics in this heterostructure was investigated based on the framework of core-hole-clock (CHC) approach. The results obtained from spin pumping and CHC studies show that the spin-to-charge current conversion and charge transfer process are more efficient in the graphene/WS$_2$ heterostructure compared to isolated WS2 and graphene films. The results show that the presence of WS$_2$ flakes improves the current conversion efficiency. These experimental results are corroborated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which reveal (i) Rashba spin-orbit splitting of graphene orbitals and (ii) electronic coupling between graphene and WS$_2$ orbitals. This study provides valuable insights for optimizing the design and performance of spintronic devices.