半导体超晶格系统中的磁电调控电子自旋输运研究

通过采用转移矩阵方法求解自旋电子隧穿过程,理论研究了半导体超晶格系统中电子自旋输运的磁电调控行为.结果表明：仅对超晶格系统施以磁调制,隧穿系数将出现自旋分裂,随磁场增强,电导自旋极化率变大且展宽于费米能区;若选取不变磁场情况,同时施以间隔周期电场调制,超晶格的电子极化率将有更为显著地提高.进一步发现,随电场强度的改变,电子自旋输运行为显然存在两个明显不同区域,下自旋电子将在不同调制区域表现为不同的变化趋势.然而,若对周期磁超晶格施加间隔两周期的电调制,自旋电导输运的临界行为消失,电导极化率在高能区的共振峰 关键词： 半导体超晶格 自旋输运 磁电调控     

对称双势垒量子阱中自旋极化输运的时间特性

电子的隧穿时间是描述量子器件动态工作范围的重要指标. 本文考虑k³ Dresselhaus 自旋轨道耦合效应对系统哈密顿量的修正, 结合转移矩阵方法和龙格-库塔法来解含时薛定谔方程, 进而讨论了电子在非磁半导体对称双势垒结构中的透射系数及隧穿寿命等问题. 研究结果发现:由于k³ Dresselhaus 自旋轨道耦合效应使自旋简并消除, 并在时间域内得到了表达, 导致自旋向上和自旋向下电子的透射峰发生了自旋劈裂; 不同自旋取向的电子构建时间和隧穿寿命不同, 这是导致自旋极化的原因之一; 电子的自旋极化在时间上趋于稳定. 关键词： 自旋极化输运 透射系数 隧穿寿命 自旋极化率     

磁性隧道结自旋极化电子的隧穿特性

铁磁金属间通过中间层的自旋极化电子隧穿产生的磁性耦合,在自旋电子器件中有许多潜在的应用.考虑由一平面磁性势垒层隔开的两铁磁性金属电极构成的磁性隧道结,针对中间层形成的矩形势垒,在近自由电子模型的基础上,计算零偏压下的隧穿电导、自旋极化率和隧穿磁阻比率,分析势垒层特性、分子场强弱、分子场相对取向等对隧道结自旋极化电子隧穿特性的影响.计算结果对自旋电子器件的设计具有一定的指导意义.     

铁磁金属量子阱态的共振隧穿

非铁磁金属层中的量子阱态在磁输运过程中的重要性已被广泛认识．铁磁金属层中自旋极化的量子阱态以前并没有详尽的理论研究；实验上也没有清晰地观测到自旋极化量子阱态的隧穿．文章介绍了最近由卢仲毅、张晓光和Pantelides预言的Fe／MgO／FeO／Fe／Cr和其他铁磁量子阱隧道结中的共振隧穿，并解释铁、钴、铬的△1能带的对称性在这种共振隧穿中的作用．     

Ⅱ-Ⅵ族稀磁半导体多层结构中的自旋极化隧穿

采用转移矩阵法和Airy函数,研究了ZnSe/ZnMnSe/ZnSe/ZnBeSe/ZnSe/ZnBeSe/ZnSe异质结构的自旋极化输运。在外加偏压和磁场对电子透射系数和自旋极化率的影响方面,所得到的结论显现出复杂而有趣的特性。磁场对自旋向上和向下电子隧穿的影响是不同的:对于自旋向上情况,出现双共振向单共振转换现象。     

磁电势垒结构中光场辅助电子自旋输运特性

基于Floquet理论和传输矩阵方法,理论研究了光场对电子隧穿两类磁电垒结构的自旋极化输运特性的影响,计算结果表明光场对两类磁电垒结构中电子的输运有显著影响:首先,原来不存在自旋过滤特性的结构应用光场后会产生低能区域明显的自旋过滤效应;其次,原来存在自旋过滤特性的结构应用光场后自旋过滤明显增强,增幅超过一个数量级.这些为新的自旋极化源的产生和自旋过滤现象的深入研究有一定的指导性意义.     

相互作用量子点系统中的场致自旋电流

从理论上研究了相互作用量子点在外部旋转磁场下的非平衡自旋输运性质，研究结果表明，量子点中的相干自旋振荡可以导致自旋电流的产生，当计入库仑关联相互作用后，近藤共振效应受外部进动磁场的影响很强，特别是当磁场的进动频率与塞曼能移满足共振条件时，每个自旋近藤峰就会劈裂为两个自旋共振峰的叠加，在低温强耦合区，这种近藤型共隧穿过程对自旋电流带来重要贡献。     

磁台阶势垒结构中二维电子气的自旋极化输运

运用散射矩阵方法,研究了台阶磁势垒量子结构中二维电子气的隧穿输运性质.结果表明：在零偏压下,电子传输概率的自旋极化曲线随入射能量的增加而振荡衰减;随着磁台阶数的增加,电子传输概率的自旋极化度最大值减小,同时电子传输概率的自旋极化度振荡衰减也越来越慢;随着磁台阶的总宽度增加,电子传输概率的自旋极化曲线出现更明显的振荡,电子隧穿磁台阶势垒表现出明显的量子尺寸效应;在偏置电压的作用下,电子传输概率的自旋极化度在宽广的入射能量区出现明显的振荡增大,电子隧穿磁台阶势垒表现出更明显的自旋过滤效应. 关键词： 磁台阶势垒 自旋极化 自旋过滤     

对称抛物势阱磁性隧道结中的自旋输运及磁电阻效应

研究了两端具有铁磁接触的对称抛物势阱磁性隧道结(F/SPW/F)中自旋相关的隧穿概率和隧穿磁电阻,讨论了量子尺寸效应和Rashba 自旋轨道耦合作用对自旋极化输运特性的影响.研究结果表明:隧穿概率和隧穿磁电阻随抛物势阱宽度的增加发生周期性的振荡.抛物势阱深度的增加减小了隧穿概率和隧穿磁电阻的振荡频率.Rashba 自旋轨道耦合强度的增加加大了隧穿概率和隧穿磁电阻的振荡频率.隧穿概率和隧穿磁电阻的振幅和峰谷比强烈依赖于两铁磁电极中磁化方向的夹角. 关键词： 磁性隧道结 Rashba 自旋轨道耦合 隧穿概率 隧穿磁电阻     

光场辐照下稀磁半导体/半导体超晶格中自旋电子输运特性研究

基于单电子有效质量近似理论和传递矩阵方法,理论研究了稀磁半导体/半导体超晶格结构中电子的自旋极化输运特性.主要讨论了光场和磁场联合调制对自旋极化输运的影响,以及不同自旋电子在该超晶格结构中的隧穿时间.理论和数值计算结果表明,由于导带电子与掺杂Mn离子之间的sp-d电子相互作用引起巨塞曼劈裂,因此在磁场调制下,不同自旋电子在该结构中感受到的势函数不同而呈现出自旋过滤效应,不同自旋电子的共振透射能带的位置和宽度可以通过磁场进行调制.同时在该结构中考虑光场时,自旋依赖的透射谱会因为吸收和发射光子而呈现出对光场的强度和频率响应;最后,通过不同自旋电子的高斯波包在该结构中随时间的演化给出了不同自旋电子的隧穿时间.本文研究结果对研究和设计基于稀磁半导体/半导体超晶格结构的高速量子器件具有一定的指导意义.     

Spin-dependent current in resonant tunneling diode with ferromagnetic GaMnN layers

The spin-polarized tunneling current through a double barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD) with ferromagnetic GaMnN emitter/collector is investigated theoretically. Two distinct spin splitting peaks can be observed at current-voltage (I-V) characteristics at low temperature. The spin polarization decreases with the temperature due to the thermal effect of electron density of states. When charge polarization effect is considered at the heterostructure, the spin polarization is enhanced significantly. A highly spin-polarized current can be obtained depending on the polarization charge density.     

The effect of periodic magnetic-electric barriers on electron transport in a nanostructure

Using the transfer matrix method, the transmission probability, the spin polarization and the electron conductance of a ballistic electron are studied in detail in a nanostructure. We observe that these quantities sensitively depend on the number of periodic magnetic-electric barriers. As the number of periods increases, the resonance splitting increases, the number of the resonance peaks increases and the peaks become sharper as well as the spin polarization being enhanced. Surprisingly, a polarization of nearly 100% can be achieved by spin-dependent resonant tunneling in this structure, although the average magnetic field of the structure is zero.     

Electron-spin polarization in a non-magnetic heterostructure

The spin dependent electron transmission through a non-magnetic III-V semiconductor symmetric well is studied theoretically so as to investigate the output transmission current polarization at zero magnetic field. Transparency of electron transmission is calculated as a function of electron energy as well as 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. This effect could be employed in the fabrication of spin filters, spin injectors and detectors based on non-magnetic semiconductors.     

Enhancement of charge and spin Seebeck effect in triple quantum dots coupling to ferromagnetic and superconducting electrodes

We theoretically study the thermoelectric transport properties through a triple quantum dots (QDs) device with the central QD coupled to a ferromagnetic lead, a superconducting one, and two side QDs with spin-dependent interdot tunneling coupling. The thermoelectric coefficients are calculated in the linear response regime by means of nonequilibrium Green's function method. The thermopower is determined by the single-electron tunneling processes at the edge of superconducting gap. Near the outside of the gap edge the thermopower is enhanced while thermal conductance is suppressed, as a result, the charge figure of merit can be greatly improved as the gap appropriately increases. In the same way, charge figure of merit also can be greatly improved near the outside of the gap edge by adjusting interdot tunneling coupling and asymmetry coupling of the side QDs to central QD. Moreover, the appropriate increase of the interdot tunneling splitting and spin polarization of ferromagnetic lead not only can improve charge thermopower and charge figure of merit, but also can enhance spin thermopower and spin figure of merit. Especially, the interdot tunneling splitting scheme provides a method of controlling charge (spin) figure merit by external magnetic field.     

Voltage-controlled spin selection in a magnetic resonant tunneling diode

We have fabricated all II-VI semiconductor resonant tunneling diodes based on the (Zn,Mn,Be)Se material system, containing dilute magnetic material in the quantum well, and studied their current-voltage characteristics. When subjected to an external magnetic field the resulting spin splitting of the levels in the quantum well leads to a splitting of the transmission resonance into two separate peaks. This is interpreted as evidence of tunneling transport through spin polarized levels, and could be the first step towards a voltage controlled spin filter.     

Magnetic-field-induced singularity in the tunneling current through an InAs quantum dot

The tunneling transport through a GaAs/(AlGa)As/GaAs single-barrier heterostructure with self-assembled InAs quantum dots is studied experimentally at low temperatures. An anomalous increase in the tunneling current through the quantum dots is observed in magnetic fields both parallel and perpendicular to the current. This result cannot be understood in the framework of the single-electron approximation. The proposed explanation of the phenomenon is based on the modified Matveev-Larkin theory, which predicts the appearance of a singularity in the tunneling current through the zero-dimensional state in a magnetic field because of the interaction between the tunneling electron and the spin-polarized three-dimensional electron gas in the emitter. The absence of spin splitting in the experimental resonance peaks is caused by the complete spin polarization of the emitter in relatively weak magnetic fields.     

Fano-type spin-flip mesoscopic transport through an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer

We have investigated the mesoscopic transport properties of a quantum dot embedded Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interferometer applied with a rotating magnetic field. The spin-flip effect is induced by the rotating magnetic field, and the tunneling current is sensitive to the spin-flip effect. The spin-flipped electrons tunneling from the direct channel and the resonant channel interfere with each other to form spin-polarized tunneling current components. The non-resonant tunneling (direct transmission) strength and the AB phase φ play important roles. When the non-resonant tunneling (background transmission) exists, the spin and charge currents form asymmetric peaks and valleys, which exhibit Fano-type line shapes by varying the source-drain bias voltage, or gate voltage. The AB oscillations of the spin and charge currents exhibit distinct dependence on the magnetic flux and direct tunneling strength.     

The Andreev tunneling behaviors in the FM/QD/SC system with intradot spin-flip scattering

The resonant behaviors of spin-dependent linear AR conductance, the spin-dependent AR current, the electron occupation number and spin accumulation in the QD are theoretically investigated in the FM/QD/SC system with intradot spin-flip scattering. The novel resonant behaviors of spin-dependent AR conductance versus Fermi energy are revealed, which are rather different from the AR conductance versus the dot's energy level case [Cao et al., Phys. Rev. B 70 (2004) 235341]. It is proved that the split of the resonant peak can be induced by the competition between the coupling strengths to the FM and SC leads, the intradot spin-flip scattering, and the gate voltage. The number, the widths, and the distance of the peaks could be controlled by tuning the relevant parameters. The resonance of AR current can take place only when the energy level of QD lines up with the right lead chemical potential and blows the left lead chemical potential. The magnitude of the resonant AR current depends on the number of resonant levels involved in the Andreev tunneling process. It is also proved that the spin-flip scattering can suppress the spin accumulation effectively, and induce the spin polarization of AR conductance and AR current simultaneously. The results make us understand better the fundamental in this system, and are useful for the design of spintronic devices.     

Electrical detection of spin accumulation in a p-type GaAs quantum well

We report on experiments in which a spin-polarized current is injected from a GaMnAs ferromagnetic electrode into a GaAs layer through an AlAs barrier. The resulting spin polarization in GaAs is detected by measuring how the tunneling current, to a second GaMnAs ferromagnetic electrode, depends on the orientation of its magnetization. Our results can be accounted for by sequential tunneling with the nonrelaxed spin splitting of the chemical potential, that is, spin accumulation, in GaAs. We discuss the conditions on the hole spin relaxation time in GaAs that are required to obtain the large effects we observe.     

Rashba spin-orbit effect on dwell time of electrons tunneling through semiconductor barrier

A study on characteristics of electrons tunneling through semiconductor barrier is evaluated, in which we take into account the effects of Rashba spin-orbit interaction. Our numerical results show that Rashba spin-orbit effect originating from the inversion asymmetry can give rise to the spin polarization. The spin polarization does not increase linearly but shows obvious resonant features as the strength of Rashba spin-orbit coupling increases, and the amplitudes of spin polarization can reach the highest around the first resonant energy level. Furthermore, it is found that electrons with different spin orientations will spend quite different time through the same heterostructures. The difference of the dwell time between spin-up and spin-down electrons arise from the Rashba spin-orbit coupling. And it is also found that the dwell time will reach its maximum at the first resonant energy level. It can be concluded that, in the time domain, the tunneling processes of the spin-up and spin-down electrons can be separated by modulating the strength of Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Study results indicate that Rashba spin-orbit effect can cause a nature spin filter mechanism in the time domain.