https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap:1998238
Gate-induced spin precession in an In0.53Ga0.47As two dimensional electron gas
1
Institut d'Électronique Fondamentale (CNRS URA22), Université Paris Sud, Bâtiment 220,
91405 Orsay Cedex, France
2
Max-Planck Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik, Weinberg 2,
06120 Halle, Germany
Corresponding author: bournel@ief.ief.u-psud.fr
Received:
29
May
1998
Accepted:
24
August
1998
Published online: 15 October 1998
We report a study of the gate-induced spin precession in an In0.53Ga0.47As two dimensional electron gas, using a Monte-Carlo transport model. The precession vector originates from the spin-orbit coupling existing at a III-V hetero-interface, usually denoted as Rashba interaction. Contrary to the case of a one dimensional electron gas, the precession vector is randomized by the scattering events, which leads to a non negligible loss of spin coherence for an initially spin-polarized electron population moving along a conduction channel. However, we show that by operating at the liquid nitrogen temperature, or by reducing the channel width to a value close to 0.1 µm, the gate-controlled spin-polarization remains high enough to enable the investigation of the physics of spin-related phenomena in a ferromagnet/semiconductor structure.
PACS: 85.90.+h – Other topics in electronic and magnetic devices and microelectronics / 71.70.Ej – Spin-orbit coupling, Zeeman and Stark splitting / 73.40.-c – Electronic transport in interface structures
© EDP Sciences, 1998