Spontaneous Spin Polarization of Electrons by Diluted Magnetic Heterostructures

Chang Woo Lee, Amalorpavam John Peter

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DOI: 10.4236/jmp.2011.211157                

Abstract

The spin dependent electron transmission phenomenon in a diluted resonant semiconductor heterostructure is employed theoretically to investigate the output transmission current polarization at zero magnetic field. Transparency of electron transmission is calculated as a function of electron energy and the well width, within the one electron band approximation along with the spin orbit interaction. Enhanced spin-polarized resonant tunneling in the heterostructure due to Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit coupling induced splitting of the resonant level is observed. We predict that a spin-polarized current spontaneously emerges in this heterostructure and we estimate theoretically that the polarization can reach 40%. This effect could be employed in the fabrication of spin filters, spin injectors and detectors based on non-magnetic semiconductors.

Keywords

Spin Polarized Transport, Spin Injection, Spin-Orbit Coupling, Resonant Tunneling

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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