Article abstract
Nature Physics 3, 197 - 202 (2007)
doi:10.1038/nphys543
Subject Category: Electronics, photonics and device physics
Electrical detection of spin transport in lateral ferromagnet–semiconductor devices
Xiaohua Lou1, Christoph Adelmann2, Scott A. Crooker3, Eric S. Garlid1, Jianjie Zhang1, K. S. Madhukar Reddy2, Soren D. Flexner2, Chris J. Palmstrøm2 and Paul A. Crowell1
Abstract
The development of semiconductor spintronics requires a reliable electronic means for writing, processing and reading information using spin-polarized carriers. Here, we demonstrate a fully electrical scheme for achieving spin injection, transport and detection in a single device. Our device consists of a lateral semiconducting channel with two ferromagnetic contacts, one of which serves as a source of spin-polarized electrons and the other as a detector. Spin detection in the device is achieved through a non-local, spin-sensitive, Schottky-tunnel-barrier contact whose electrochemical potential depends on the relative magnetizations of the source and detector. We verify the effectiveness of this approach by showing that a transverse magnetic field suppresses the non-local signal at the detection contact by inducing spin precession and dephasing in the channel (the Hanle effect). The sign of the signal varies with the injection current and is correlated with the spin polarization in the channel as determined by optical Kerr rotation measurements.
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
Correspondence to: Paul A. Crowell1 e-mail: crowell@physics.umn.edu
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