The two-dimensional (2D) materials are highly susceptible to the influence of their neighbors, thereby enabling the design by proximity phenomena. We reveal a remarkable terahertz (THz) spin-light interaction in 2D Dirac materials that arises from magnetic and spin-orbital proximity effects. The dynamical realization of the spin-charge conversion, the electric dipole spin resonance (EDSR), of Dirac electrons displays distinctive THz features upon emerging spin-pseudospin proximity terms in the Hamiltonian. To capture the effect of fast pseudospin dynamics on the electron spin, we develop a mean-field theory and complement it with a quantum-mechanical treatment. As a specific example, we investigate the THz response of a single graphene layer proximitized by a magnetic substrate. Our analysis demonstrates a strong enhancement and anomalous polarization structure of the THz-light absorption, which can enable THz detection and efficient generation and control of spins in spin-based quantum devices. The identified coupled spin-pseudospin dynamics is not limited to EDSR and may influence a broad range of optical, transport, and ultrafast phenomena.

• Received 1 June 2023
• Revised 1 November 2023
• Accepted 25 April 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.109.L201406