Deterministic transfer of spin polarization in wire-like lateral structures via the persistent spin helix

We used spatially- and time-resolved Kerr rotation microscopy to show that in lateral wire-like structures, based on a modulation-doped GaAs-AlGaAs quantum well, an optically initialized spin polarization can be deterministically transferred to specific lateral positions, employing the persistent spin helix (PSH). To this end, we show that confinement in two directions leads to a strong enhancement of the effective decay time of spin polarization, which can be exploited to transfer spin polarization over relatively large lateral distances. This is demonstrated by the investigation of L-shaped wire-like lateral structures, where the legs are positioned in directions parallel and perpendicular to the wave vector of the PSH. Published by AIP Publishing

Analog of microwave-induced resistance oscillations induced in GaAs heterostructures by terahertz radiation

We report on the study of terahertz radiation-induced MIRO-like oscillations of magnetoresistivity in GaAs heterostructures. Our experiments provide an answer on two most intriguing questions-effect of radiation helicity and the role of the edges-yielding crucial information for an understanding of the MIRO (microwave-induced resistance oscillations) origin. Moreover, we demonstrate that the range of materials exhibiting radiation-induced magneto-oscillations can be largely extended by using high-frequency radiation

Electrical Spin Injection into High Mobility 2D Systems

We report on spin injection into a high mobility 2D electron system confined at an (Al,Ga)As/GaAs interface, using (Ga,Mn)As Esaki diode contacts as spin aligners. We measured a clear nonlocal spin valve signal, which varies nonmonotonically with the applied bias voltage. The magnitude of the signal cannot be described by the standard spin drift-diffusion model, because at maximum this would require the spin polarization of the injected current to be much larger than 100%, which is unphysical. A strong correlation of the spin signal with contact width and electron mean free path suggests that ballistic transport in the 2D region below ferromagnetic contacts should be taken into account to fully describe the results

Gate-tunable large magnetoresistance in an all-semiconductor spin valve device

The development of spin field effect transistors has been hampered by the low magnetoresistance in the semiconductor spin valve. Here the authors report large and tunable magnetoresistance in a lateral 2DES-based spin valve geometry due to finite electric field effects at the ferromagnet-semiconductor interface

Magnetoresistance oscillations induced by high-intensity terahertz radiation

We report on observation of pronounced terahertz radiation-induced magnetoresistivity oscillations in AlGaAs/GaAs two-dimensional electron systems, the terahertz analog of the microwave induced resistivity oscillations (MIRO). Applying high-power radiation of a pulsed molecular laser we demonstrate that MIRO, so far observed at low power only, are not destroyed even at very high intensities. Experiments with radiation intensity ranging over five orders of magnitude from 0.1 to 10(4)W/cm(2) reveal high-power saturation of the MIRO amplitude, which is well described by an empirical fit function I/(1 + I/I-s)(beta) with beta similar to 1. The saturation intensity Is is of the order of tens of watts per square centimeter and increases by a factor of 6 by increasing the radiation frequency from 0.6 to 1.1 THz. The results are discussed in terms of microscopic mechanisms of MIRO and compared to nonlinear effects observed earlier at significantly lower excitation frequencies