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Science 30 September 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5744, pp. 2191 - 2195
DOI: 10.1126/science.1116865
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Reports

Imaging Spin Transport in Lateral Ferromagnet/Semiconductor Structures

S. A. Crooker,1* M. Furis,1 X. Lou,2 C. Adelmann,3 D. L. Smith,4 C. J. Palmstrøm,3 P. A. Crowell2

We directly imaged electrical spin injection and accumulation in the gallium arsenide channel of lateral spin-transport devices, which have ferromagnetic source and drain tunnel-barrier contacts. The emission of spins from the source was observed, and a region of spin accumulation was imaged near the ferromagnetic drain contact. Both injected and accumulated spins have the same orientation (antiparallel to the contact magnetization), and we show that the accumulated spin polarization flows away from the drain (against the net electron current), indicating that electron spins are polarized by reflection from the ferromagnetic drain contact. The electrical conductance can be modulated by controlling the spin orientation of optically injected electrons flowing through the drain.

1 National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
2 School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
3 Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
4 Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: crooker{at}lanl.gov

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Control of Spin Precession in a Spin-Injected Field Effect Transistor.
H. C. Koo, J. H. Kwon, J. Eom, J. Chang, S. H. Han, and M. Johnson (2009)
Science 325, 1515-1518
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