Defect enhanced spin and valley polarizations in silicene superlattices

We studied the effect of a defect of superlattice on the spin and valley dependent transport properties in silicene, where there is an abnormal barrier in height. It is found that the transmission resonance is greatly suppressed, because the symmetry of superlattice structure is destroyed by the defect. The spin-up and spin-down electrons near the K and K′ valleys are dominated by different effective superlattices and defects. Therefore, the conductances are strongly dependent on the spin and valley of electron. By adjusting the defect strength properly, the spin and valley polarizations could be dramatically enhanced in a wide energy region. Furthermore, the result suggests an application of the structure as a defect-controlled switch.