Electrically-Generated Spin Polarization in Non-Magnetic Semiconductors

Abstract

The objective of the research was to investigate and determine the mechanism that produced electrically-generated electron spin polarization in non-magnetic semiconductor heterostructures. Electrically-generated electron spin polarization was shown to be inversely proportional to the measured momentum-dependent spin splitting in strained indium gallium arsenide, contrary to theoretical expectation. The measurements were conducted by systematically varying the direction and magnitude of the in-plane current and net drift momentum in a device with a cross-bargeometry. The role of electrically-generated electron spin polarization in producing dynamic nuclear polarization was investigated, and nuclear spin polarization was produced that could be aligned either with or against the applied magnetic field, depending on the direction of the current. Aseries of indium gallium arsenide epilayer samples with varying indium composition and doping density were produced and measured in order to determine how changing the sample parameters, such as spin-orbit splitting, spin relaxation time, momentum scattering time, and carrier density,affect the electrical spin generation efficiency.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 31, 2016
Accession Number
AD1006929

Entities

People

  • Vanessa A. Sih

Organizations

  • University of Michigan

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Efficiency
  • Electric Fields
  • Electronic Mail
  • Electrons
  • Gallium Arsenides
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Measurement
  • Momentum
  • Nuclear Spins
  • Polarization
  • Relaxation Time
  • Scattering
  • Semiconductors
  • Spin-Orbit Interaction
  • Splitting

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Quantum spin resonance or Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Space