522 research outputs found
Diffuse transport and spin accumulation in a Rashba two-dimensional electron gas
The Rashba Hamiltonian describes the splitting of the conduction band as a
result of spin-orbit coupling in the presence of an asymmetric confinement
potential and is commonly used to model the electronic structure of confined
narrow-gap semiconductors. Due to the mixing of spin states some care has to be
exercised in the calculation of transport properties. We derive the diffusive
conductance tensor for a disordered two-dimensional electron gas with
spin-orbit interaction and show that the applied bias induces a spin
accumulation, but that the electric current is not spin-polarized.Comment: REVTeX4 format, 5 page
Ballistic spin-polarized transport and Rashba spin precession in semiconductor nanowires
We present numerical calculations of the ballistic spin-transport properties
of quasi-one-dimensional wires in the presence of the spin-orbit (Rashba)
interaction. A tight-binding analog of the Rashba Hamiltonian which models the
Rashba effect is used. By varying the robustness of the Rashba coupling and the
width of the wire, weak and strong coupling regimes are identified. Perfect
electron spin-modulation is found for the former regime, regardless of the
incident Fermi energy and mode number. In the latter however, the
spin-conductance has a strong energy dependence due to a nontrivial subband
intermixing induced by the strong Rashba coupling. This would imply a strong
suppression of the spin-modulation at higher temperatures and source-drain
voltages. The results may be of relevance for the implementation of
quasi-one-dimensional spin transistor devices.Comment: 19 pages (incl. 9 figures). To be published in PR
Mesoscopic Stern-Gerlach device to polarize spin currents
Spin preparation and spin detection are fundamental problems in spintronics
and in several solid state proposals for quantum information processing. Here
we propose the mesoscopic equivalent of an optical polarizing beam splitter
(PBS). This interferometric device uses non-dispersive phases (Aharonov-Bohm
and Rashba) in order to separate spin up and spin down carriers into distinct
outputs and thus it is analogous to a Stern-Gerlach apparatus. It can be used
both as a spin preparation device and as a spin measuring device by converting
spin into charge (orbital) degrees of freedom. An important feature of the
proposed spin polarizer is that no ferromagnetic contacts are used.Comment: Updated to the published versio
Neutron scattering from a coordination polymer quantum paramagnet
Inelastic neutron scattering measurements are reported for a powder sample of
the spin-1/2 quantum paramagnet . Magnetic neutron
scattering is identified above an energy gap of 1.9 meV. Analysis of the sharp
spectral maximum at the onset indicates that the material is magnetically
quasi-one-dimensional. Consideration of the wave vector dependence of the
scattering and polymeric structure further identifies the material as a
two-legged spin-1/2 ladder. Detailed comparison of the data to various models
of magnetism in this material based on the single mode approximation and the
continuous unitary transformation are presented. The latter theory provides an
excellent account of the data with leg exchange meV and
rung exchange meV.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, 1 tabl
Optoelectric spin injection in semiconductor heterostructures without ferromagnet
We have shown that electron spin density can be generated by a dc current
flowing across a junction with an embedded asymmetric quantum well. Spin
polarization is created in the quantum well by radiative electron-hole
recombination when the conduction electron momentum distribution is shifted
with respect to the momentum distribution of holes in the spin split valence
subbands. Spin current appears when the spin polarization is injected from the
quantum well into the -doped region of the junction. The accompanied
emission of circularly polarized light from the quantum well can serve as a
spin polarization detector.Comment: 2 figure
Coherent spin valve phenomena and electrical spin injection in ferromagnetic/semiconductor/ferromagnetic junctions
Coherent quantum transport in ferromagnetic/ semiconductor/ ferromagnetic
junctions is studied theoretically within the Landauer framework of ballistic
transport. We show that quantum coherence can have unexpected implications for
spin injection and that some intuitive spintronic concepts which are founded in
semi-classical physics no longer apply: A quantum spin-valve (QSV) effect
occurs even in the absence of a net spin polarized current flowing through the
device, unlike in the classical regime. The converse effect also arises, i.e. a
zero spin-valve signal for a non-vanishing spin-current. We introduce new
criteria useful for analyzing quantum and classical spin transport phenomena
and the relationships between them. The effects on QSV behavior of
spin-dependent electron transmission at the interfaces, interface Schottky
barriers, Rashba spin-orbit coupling and temperature, are systematically
investigated. While the signature of the QSV is found to be sensitive to
temperature, interestingly, that of its converse is not. We argue that the QSV
phenomenon can have important implications for the interpretation of
spin-injection in quantum spintronic experiments with spin-valve geometries.Comment: 15 pages including 11 figures. To appear in PR
Spin-polarized transport in inhomogeneous magnetic semiconductors: theory of magnetic/nonmagnetic p-n junctions
A theory of spin-polarized transport in inhomogeneous magnetic semiconductors
is developed and applied to magnetic/nonmagnetic p-n junctions. Several
phenomena with possible spintronic applications are predicted, including
spinvoltaic effect, spin valve effect, and giant magnetoresistance. It is
demonstrated that only nonequilibrium spin can be injected across the
space-charge region of a p-n junction, so that there is no spin injection (or
extraction) at low bias.Comment: Minor Revisions. To appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Quantum Transport in Nonuniform Magnetic Fields: Aharonov-Bohm Ring as a Spin Switch
We study the spin-dependent magneto conductance in mesoscopic rings subject
to an inhomogeneous in-plane magnetic field. We show that the polarization
direction of transmitted spin-polarized electrons can be controlled via an
additional magnetic flux such that spin flips are induced at half a flux
quantum. This quantum interference effect is independent of the strength of the
nonuniform field applied. We give an analytical explanation for one-dimensional
rings and numerical results for corresponding ballistic microstructures.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. To be published in Physical Review Letter
Neutron Scattering Study of Magnetic Ordering and Excitations in the Doped Spin Gap System Tl(CuMg)Cl
Neutron elastic and inelastic scattering measurements have been performed in
order to investigate the spin structure and the magnetic excitations in the
impurity-induced antiferromagnetic ordered phase of the doped spin gap system
Tl(CuMg)Cl with . The magnetic Bragg reflections
indicative of the ordering were observed at with integer
and odd below K. It was found that the spin structure
of the impurity-induced antiferromagnetic ordered phase on average in
Tl(CuMg)Cl with is the same as that of the
field-induced magnetic ordered phase for in the parent
compound TlCuCl. The triplet magnetic excitation was clearly observed in
the - plane and the dispersion relations of the triplet excitation
were determined along four different directions. The lowest triplet excitation
corresponding to the spin gap was observed at with integer
and odd , as observed in TlCuCl. It was also found that the spin gap
increases steeply below upon decreasing temperature. This strongly
indicates that the impurity-induced antiferromagnetic ordering coexists with
the spin gap state in Tl(CuMg)Cl with .Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, 11 eps files, revtex style, will appear in Phys.
Rev.
Oscillating magnetoresistance in diluted magnetic semiconductor barrier structures
Ballistic spin polarized transport through diluted magnetic semiconductor
(DMS) single and double barrier structures is investigated theoretically using
a two-component model. The tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) of the system
exhibits oscillating behavior when the magnetic field are varied. An
interesting beat pattern in the TMR and spin polarization is found for
different NMS/DMS double barrier structures which arises from an interplay
between the spin-up and spin-down electron channels which are splitted by the
s-d exchange interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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