Recombination Time Mismatch and Spin Dependent Photocurrent at a Ferromagnetic-Metal-Semiconductor Tunnel Junction

We report on carrier dynamics in a spin photodiode based on a ferromagnetic-metal-GaAs tunnel junction. We show that the helicity-dependent current is determined not only by the electron spin polarization and spin asymmetry of the tunneling but in great part by a dynamical factor resulting from the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2022-02, Vol.128 (5), p.057701-057701, Article 057701
Main Authors: Safarov, Viatcheslav I, Rozhansky, Igor V, Zhou, Ziqi, Xu, Bo, Wei, Zhongming, Wang, Zhan-Guo, Lu, Yuan, Jaffrès, Henri, Drouhin, Henri-Jean
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed Matter
Materials Science
Physics
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Summary:We report on carrier dynamics in a spin photodiode based on a ferromagnetic-metal-GaAs tunnel junction. We show that the helicity-dependent current is determined not only by the electron spin polarization and spin asymmetry of the tunneling but in great part by a dynamical factor resulting from the competition between tunneling and recombination in the semiconductor, as well as by a specific quantity: the charge polarization of the photocurrent. The two latter factors can be efficiently controlled through an electrical bias. Under longitudinal magnetic field, we observe a strong increase of the signal arising from inverted Hanle effect, which is a fingerprint of its spin origin. Our approach represents a radical shift in the physical description of this family of emerging spin devices.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.057701