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Gate-voltage control of spin interactions between electrons and nuclei in a semiconductor

Nature volume 415, pages 281–286 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Semiconductors are ubiquitous in device electronics, because their charge distributions can be conveniently manipulated with voltages to perform logic operations. Achieving a similar level of control over the spin degrees of freedom, either from electrons or nuclei, could provide intriguing prospects for both information processing and the study of fundamental solid-state physics issues. Here we report procedures that carry out the controlled transfer of spin angular momentum between electrons—confined to two dimensions and subjected to a perpendicular magnetic field—and the nuclei of the host semiconductor, using gate voltages only. We show that the spin transfer rate can be enhanced near a ferromagnetic ground state of the electron system, and that the induced nuclear spin polarization can be subsequently stored and ‘read out’. These techniques can also be combined into a spectroscopic tool to detect the low-energy collective excitations in the electron system that promote the spin transfer. The existence of such excitations is contingent on appropriate electron–electron correlations, and these can be tuned by changing, for example, the electron density via a gate voltage.

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Figure 1: Ferromagnetic phase transition with easy-axis anisotropy between the spin-unpolarized and fully spin-polarized 2/3 fractional quantum Hall states.
Figure 2: Time dependence of RSD near filling factor ν = 2/3 after a field sweep.
Figure 3: Time dependence of RSD after a short excursion from filling factor ν = 0.65 to filling factor ν at fixed magnetic field.
Figure 4: Time progression of the ferromagnetic phase transition.
Figure 5: The ratio EZ/EC can be changed by tilting the sample in situ with respect to the axis of the superconducting magnet.
Figure 6: Time behaviour of RSD in the absence of current flow.
Figure 7: Current-induced displacement of the ferromagnetic phase transition.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Stern and L. Brey for discussions, and M. Bichler for technological assistance. This work was supported by the German Ministry of Science and Education (BMBF) and the German Science Foundation (DFG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Stuttgart, D-70569, Germany

    J. H. Smet & K. von Klitzing

  2. Walter Schottky Institut, Technische Universität München, Garching, D-85748, Germany

    R. A. Deutschmann, F. Ertl, W. Wegscheider & G. Abstreiter

  3. Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, D-93040, Germany

    W. Wegscheider

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  1. J. H. Smet
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Correspondence to J. H. Smet.

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Smet, J., Deutschmann, R., Ertl, F. et al. Gate-voltage control of spin interactions between electrons and nuclei in a semiconductor. Nature 415, 281–286 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415281a

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