Mapping the chemical potential dependence of current-induced spin polarization in a topological insulator

We report electrical measurements of the current-induced spin polarization of the surface current in topological insulator devices where contributions from bulk and surface conduction can be disentangled by electrical gating. The devices use a ferromagnetic tunnel junction (permalloy/Al₂O₃) as a spin detector on a back-gated (Bi,Sb)₂Te₃ channel. We observe hysteretic voltage signals as the magnetization of the detector ferromagnet is switched parallel or antiparallel to the spin polarization of the surface current. The amplitude of the detected voltage change is linearly proportional to the applied dc bias current in the (Bi,Sb)₂Te₃ channel. As the chemical potential is tuned from the bulk bands into the surface state band, we observe an enhancement of the spin-dependent voltages up to 300% within the range of the electrostatic gating. Using a simple model, we extract the spin polarization near charge neutrality (i.e., the Dirac point).