Plasmon-to-exciton spin conversion in semiconductor-metal hybrid nanostructures

The authors demonstrate here optical orientation of photoexcited electrons on femtosecond timescales via plasmon-to-exciton spin conversion in semiconductor-metal hybrid nanostructures. Exploiting the polarization of the incident light, they can independently adjust the transverse and longitudinal electron spin components relative to the light propagation direction. The demonstrated plasmon-to-exciton spin conversion is fascinating from both the applied and basic points of view, as it enables omnidirectional optical initialization of spin, applicable to a large variety of solid-state systems.