Operando Imaging of All-Electric Spin Texture Manipulation in Ferroelectric and Multiferroic Rashba Semiconductors

The control of the electron spin by external means is a key issue for spintronic devices.Using spin-and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SARPES) with three-dimensional spin detection, we demonstrate operando electrostatic spin manipulation in ferroelectric α-GeTe and multiferroic Ge 1-x Mn x Te.We demonstrate for the first time electrostatic spin manipulation in Rashba semiconductors due to ferroelectric polarization reversal.Additionally, we are also able to follow the switching pathway in detail.In multiferroic Ge 1-x Mn x Te operando SARPES reveals switching of the perpendicular spin component due to electric-field-induced magnetization reversal.This provides firm evidence of magnetoelectric coupling which opens up functionality with a multitude of spin-switching paths in which the magnetic and electric order parameters are coupled through ferroelastic relaxation paths.This work thus provides a new type of magnetoelectric switching intertwined with Rashba-Zeeman splitting in a multiferroic system.