The spin polarization of the electron current in a
p-(Ga,Mn)As-n-(Al,Ga)As-Zener tunnel diode, which is embedded in a
light-emitting diode, has been studied theoretically. A series of
self-consistent simulations determines the charge distribution, the band
bending, and the current-voltage characteristics for the entire structure. An
empirical tight-binding model, together with the Landauer- Buttiker theory of
coherent transport has been developed to study the current spin polarization.
This dual approach allows to explain the experimentally observed high magnitude
and strong bias dependence of the current spin polarization.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. B Rapid Communication