UC San Diego

The combination of photonics and spintronics opens new ways to transfer and process information. It is shown here that in systems in which organic molecules and semiconductor nanoparticles are combined, matching these technologies results in interesting new phenomena. We report on light induced and spin-dependent charge transfer process through helical oligopeptide-CdSe nanoparticles' (NPs) architectures deposited on ferromagnetic substrates with small coercive force (∼100-200 Oe). The spin control is achieved by the application of the chirality-induced spin-dependent electron transfer effect and is probed by two different methods: spin-controlled electrochemichemistry and photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature. The injected spin could be controlled by excitation of the nanoparticles. By switching the direction of the magnetic field of the substrate, the PL intensity could be alternated.