Efficient electrical spin injection from a magnetic metal/tunnel barrier contact into a semiconductor
Abstract
We report electrical spin injection from a ferromagnetic metal contact into a semiconductor light emitting diode structure with an injection efficiency of 30% which persists to room temperature. The Schottky barrier formed at the Fe/AlGaAs interface provides a natural tunnel barrier for injection of spin polarized electrons under reverse bias. These carriers radiatively recombine, emitting circularly polarized light, and the quantum selection rules relating the optical and carrier spin polarizations provide a quantitative, model-independent measure of injection efficiency. This demonstrates that spin injecting contacts can be formed using a widely employed contact methodology, providing a ready pathway for the integration of spin transport into semiconductor processing technology.
- Publication:
-
Applied Physics Letters
- Pub Date:
- February 2002
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.1449530
- arXiv:
- arXiv:cond-mat/0110059
- Bibcode:
- 2002ApPhL..80.1240H
- Keywords:
-
- 72.25.Mk;
- 73.40.Ns;
- 85.60.Jb;
- 85.75.-d;
- 73.61.Ey;
- 73.61.At;
- 73.40.Gk;
- 75.50.Bb;
- 75.70.Ak;
- Spin transport through interfaces;
- Metal-nonmetal contacts;
- Light-emitting devices;
- Magnetoelectronics;
- spintronics: devices exploiting spin polarized transport or integrated magnetic fields;
- III-V semiconductors;
- Metal and metallic alloys;
- Tunneling;
- Fe and its alloys;
- Magnetic properties of monolayers and thin films;
- Condensed Matter - Materials Science
- E-Print:
- 14 pages including 3 figures, version accepted by Applied Physics Letters - A. Hanbicki, et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. 80 (7), p.TBD (2002)