Epitaxial ferromagnetic thin films and heterostructures of Mn-based metallic and semiconducting compounds on GaAs

We present two approaches to integrate magnetic materials with III–V semiconductors. One is epitaxial ferromagnetic metallic films and heterostructures on GaAs (0 0 1) substrates. Although crystal structure, lattice constant, chemical bonding and other properties are dissimilar, ferromagnetic hexagonal MnAs thin films and MnAs/NiAs ferromagnet/nonmagnet heterostructures (HSs) are grown on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Multi-stepped magnetic hysteresis are controllably realized in MnAs/NiAs HSs, making this material promising for the application to multi-level nonvolatile recording on semiconductors. The other approach is to prepare a new class of GaAs based magnetic semiconductor, GaMnAs, by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy (LT-MBE) on GaAs (0 0 1). New III–V based superlattices consisting of ferromagnetic semiconductor GaMnAs and nonmagnetic semiconductor AlAs are also successfully grown. Structural and magnetic properties of these new heterostructures are presented.     

Unidirectional transmission of electrons in a magnetic field gradient

This work presents an experimental demonstration of time-reversal asymmetry of electron states propagating along the boundary separating areas with opposite magnetic fields. For this purpose we have fabricated a hybrid ferromagnet– semiconductor device in the form of a Hall cross with two ferromagnets deposited on top. The magnets generated two narrow magnetic barriers of opposite polarity in the active Hall area. We have observed that if the signs of the barriers are reversed, the bend resistance changes its sign. Using the Landauer–Büttiker theory, we have demonstrated that this is a direct consequence of asymmetric transmission of the “snake” and the “cycloidal” trajectories formed at the boundary separating the regions with opposite magnetic field directions.     

Optical spin resonances due to structure and bulk inversion asymmetry in heterostructures

Optical spin–flip excitations in the conduction band of III–V semiconductor heterostructures are considered theoretically taking into account structure inversion asymmetry (SIA) and bulk inversion asymmetry (BIA) of such systems. Possible spin transitions both in the absence of a magnetic field (B=0) as well as in the presence of a magnetic field B parallel to the growth direction [0 0 1] are investigated. The theory is based on the three-level model of the narrow-gap band structure including the BIA [Phys. Rev. 100 (1955) 580] and SIA [J. Phys. C. 17 (1984) 6039] contributions. We show in particular that the SIA mechanism not only results in the Bychkov–Rashba spin splitting at B=0 but it also gives rise to the possibility of optical transitions between the two spin-split energy branches.     

Hybrid excitons in organic–inorganic semiconducting quantum wells in a microcavity

We investigate theoretically the optical properties of composite organic–inorganic semiconductor quantum wells. These properties are dominated by hybrid Frenkel (or charge-transfer) and Wannier–Mott excitonic states. An important effect is the possibility of using the Stark shift to tune the resonance between Frenkel and Wannier–Mott excitons. This fact is very important from a practical point of view because it may be difficult to grow such a structure exactly at resonance. We also discussed the coupling of Frenkel or charge transfer and Wannier–Mott exciton through a microcavity photon. We evaluate the hybrid exciton-polariton Rabi splitting. In the strong coupling regime the Rabi splitting depends essentially on the oscillator strength of the Frenkel or charge-transfer exciton.     

Investigation of the mesoscopic Aharonov–Bohm effect in low magnetic fields

We have investigated the Aharonov–Bohm effect in mesoscopic semiconductor GaAs/GaA1As rings in low magnetic fields. The oscillatory magnetoconductance of these systems is systematically studied as a function of electron density. We observe phase shifts of π in the magnetoconductance oscillations, and halving of the fundamental h/e period, as the density is varied. Theoretically, we find agreement with the experiment, by introducing an asymmetry between the two arms of the ring.     

A spin field effect transistor for low leakage current

In a spin field effect transistor, a magnetic field is inevitably present in the channel because of the ferromagnetic source and drain contacts. This field causes random unwanted spin precession when carriers interact with non-magnetic impurities. The randomized spins lead to a large leakage current when the transistor is in the “off”-state, resulting in significant standby power dissipation. We can counter this effect of the magnetic field by engineering the Dresselhaus spin–orbit interaction in the channel with a backgate. For realistic device parameters, a nearly perfect cancellation is possible, which should result in a low leakage current.     

Renormalized dispersion of elementary excitations in spinor polariton condensates

We analyse the polarization of spinor polariton condensates and corresponding dispersions of elementary excitations. We have considered the effects of magnetic field induced splitting in circular polarizations and residual splitting in linear polarizations in the ground state provided by the cavity asymmetry. We show that anisotropic polariton–polariton interactions fully compensate the Zeeman splitting in circular polarizations below the critical magnetic field, thus leading to the spin-Meissner effect for the polariton condensates. We also analyzed the effect of polariton–polariton interactions on the stability of the gap in linear polarizations characteristic for anisotropic microcavities. It was shown that in realistic systems this gap increases with concentration of the particles, thus contributing to the stability of the pinning of linear polarization of photoemission in semiconductor microcavities for pump intensities above the stimulation threshold.     

Bipolaron formation in the presence of magnetic impurities

The formation of bipolarons in the presence of magnetic impurities is studied theoretically. We use the extended Hubbard Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model with Brazovskii–Kirova and Kondo interaction terms. Parameters are chosen suitably for cis-polyacetylene. A Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) algorithm is used to study the equilibrium lattice structure and charge distribution as a function of doping level and Kondo exchange integral. The magnetic impurities can have a destructive effect on bipolaron stability, instead favouring the two polaron configuration. However by suitably adjusting the doping level, bipolarons can be stabilized over a wide range of impurity strength.     

Electrical characteristics of a metal–insulator–semiconductor memory structure containing Ge nanocrystals

A metal–insulator–semiconductor structure device with Ge nanocrystals in SiO₂ was synthesized and the electrical characteristics were investigated. Capacitance–voltage (C–V) curves show hysteresis and the measurements indicate that the device has charge storage effects and stores more holes than electrons. For decreasing measurement frequencies from 1 MHz to 500 Hz, both branches of the C–V hysteresis shift in the positive voltage direction. The slope of the left flank of the C–V hysteresis curve becomes stretched out with decreasing frequency. The slope of the right one appears frequency independent, while there is a small hump/step on the right flank of the C–V hysteresis curve for the lower frequency cases (500 Hz and 1 kHz). The role of Si/SiO₂ interface states is discussed.     

Effect of inter-miniband tunneling on current resonances due to the formation of stochastic conduction networks in superlattices

We study the effects of inter-miniband electron tunneling and electric field domains on the current–voltage and conductance–voltage curves of biased semiconductor superlattices under the action of a magnetic field that is tilted relative to the plane of the layers. For this geometry, electrons in the superlattice minibands exhibit a unique type of stochastic semiclassical motion. At certain critical values of the electric field within the superlattice layers, the stochastic trajectories change abruptly from fully localized to completely unbounded, and map out an intricate web-like mesh of conduction channels in phase space. Delocalization of the electron paths produces a series of strong resonant peaks in the electron drift velocity versus electric field curves. We use these drift velocity characteristics to make self-consistent drift-diffusion calculations of the current–voltage and differential conductance–voltage curves of the superlattices, which reveal strong resonant features originating from the sudden delocalization of the stochastic single-electron paths. We show that this delocalization has a pronounced effect on the distribution of space charge and electric field domains within the superlattices. Inter-miniband tunneling greatly reduces the amount of space-charge buildup, thus enhancing the domain structure and both the strength and number of the current resonances.     

Coherent nonlinear transport in quantum rings

While equilibrium properties of mesoscopic systems are well understood, many questions are still debated concerning the non-equilibrium properties, which govern nonlinear transport. Nonlinear transport measurements have been performed on two-terminal semiconductor quantum rings in the open regime, where the rings are used as electron interferometers and show the Aharonov–Bohm effect. We observe a magnetic field asymmetry of the nonlinear conductance, compatible with the non-validity of the Onsager–Casimir relations out-of-equilibrium. In particular, the voltage-antisymmetric part of the nonlinear conductance of these two-terminal devices is not phase rigid, as it is the case for the linear conductance. We show that this asymmetry is directly related to the electronic phase accumulated by the electrons along the arms of the ring and can be tuned using an electrostatic gate.     

Fully electrical read-write device out of a ferromagnetic semiconductor

We report the realization of a read-write device out of the ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As as the first step to a fundamentally new information processing paradigm. Writing the magnetic state is achieved by current-induced switching and readout of the state is done by the means of the tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance effect. This 1?bit demonstrator device can be used to design an electrically programmable memory and logic device.     

Analysis of effective spin-polarized transport through a ZnO based magnetic p–n junction at room temperature

ZnO based magnetic semiconductors (MSs) are prominent candidates for the spintronic devices because of their high Curie temperatures and low conductance mismatches. In this paper the spin-polarized transport in MS/nonmagnetic semiconductor (NMS) p–n junction is investigated. A model is established based on semiconductor drift–diffusion theory and continuity equation. Boundary conditions are obtained from the quasi-chemical potential (QCP) relations at the junction interface. For a ZnO based magnetic p–n junction, we calculate the distributions of carrier/spin density and spin polarization at room temperature. It is demonstrated that by choosing proper parameters, effective spin-polarized injection from ZnO based MS into ZnO can be achieved at room temperature without external spin-polarized injection (ESPI) or large bias.     

Theory of electronic light scattering in lateral superlattices with Rashba spin–orbit coupling under quantizing electric and magnetic fields

The influence of an in-plane electric and out-of-plane magnetic field on the electronic light scattering is calculated for a lateral semiconductor superlattice within Rashba spin–orbit interaction. Sharp resonances are predicted to appear when the Raman shift matches one frequency of the Wannier–Stark ladder. The spin–orbit interaction gives rise to a dispersion of the exact one-particle eigenstates and an associated finite width of the Raman line, which can be tuned by the electric and magnetic field. When the Bloch frequency is located in this Raman line, a Fano resonance is observed.     

Effect of the dielectric-constant mismatch and magnetic field on the binding energy of hydrogenic impurities in a spherical quantum dot

Within the effective mass approximation and variational method the effect of dielectric constant mismatch between the size-quantized semiconductor sphere, coating and surrounding environment on impurity binding energy in both the absence and presence of a magnetic field is considered. The dependences of the binding energy of a hydrogenic on-center impurity on the sphere and coating radii, alloy concentration, dielectric-constant mismatch, and magnetic field intensity are found for the GaAs–Ga_1−xAl_xAs–AlAs (or vacuum) system.     

Convective scheme solution of the Boltzmann transport equation for nanoscale semiconductor devices

A model for the simulation of the electron energy distribution in nanoscale metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) devices, using a kinetic simulation technique, is implemented. The convective scheme (CS), a method of characteristics, is an accurate method of solving the Boltzmann transport equation, a nonlinear integrodifferential equation, for the distribution of electrons in a MOSFET device. The method is used to find probabilities for use in an iterative scheme which iterates to find collision rates in cells. The CS is also a novel approach to 2D semiconductor device simulation. The CS has been extended to handle boundary conditions in 2D as well as to calculation of polygon overlap for polygons of more than three sides. Electron energy distributions in the channel of a MOSFET are presented.     

A quantum electromechanical device: the electromechanical single-electron pillar

A new nanoelectromechanical device is introduced, useful for quantum electromechanics. The focus will be on single-electron transistors with a mechanical degree of freedom. The technical approach as well as the experimental realization of a new vertical mechanical single-electron tunneling device are discussed. This transistor is fabricated in a semiconductor material, forming a nanopillar between source and drain contacts. This concept can readily be transferred to large scale fabrication, being of importance for building integrated sensors and amplifier stages for quantum electromechanical circuits. Operation of the device at room temperature in the frequency range of 350–400 MHz is presented. A straightforward theoretical model of device operation is given.     

Bias-dependent spin relaxation in a -InAs/AlSb 2DES

Manipulation of electron spin is a critical component of many proposed semiconductor spintronic devices. One promising approach utilizes the Rashba effect by which an applied electric field can be used to reduce the spin lifetime or rotate spin orientation through spin–orbit interaction. The large spin–orbit interaction needed for this technique to be effective typically leads to fast spin relaxation through precessional decay, which may severely limit device architectures and functionalities. An exception arises in [1 1 0]-oriented heterostructures where the crystal magnetic field associated with bulk inversion asymmetry lies along the growth direction and in which case spins oriented along the growth direction do not precess. These considerations have led to a recent proposal of a spin-FET that incorporates a [1 1 0]-oriented, gate-controlled InAs quantum well channel. We report measurements of the electron spin lifetime as a function of applied electric field in a [1 1 0]-InAs 2DES. Measurements made using an ultrafast, mid-IR pump-probe technique indicate that the spin lifetime can be reduced from its maximum to minimum value over a range of less than 0.2 V per quantum well at room temperature.     

Demonstration of electrical spin injection into a semiconductor using a semimagnetic spin aligner

Spin injection into semiconductors has been a field of growing interest during recent years, because of the large possibilities in basic physics and for device applications that a controlled manipulation of the electrons spin would enable. However, it has proven very difficult to realize such a spin injector experimentally. Here we demonstrate electrical spin injection and detection in a GaAs/AlGaAs p-i-n diode using a semimagnetic II–VI semiconductor (Zn_{1 − x − y}Be_xMn_ySe) as a spin aligner. The degree of circular polarization of the electroluminescence from the diode is related to the spin polarization of the conduction electrons. Thus, it may be used as a detector for injected spin-polarized carriers. Our experimental results indicate a spin polarization of the injected electrons of up to 90% and are reproduced for several samples. The degree of optical polarization depends strongly on the Mn concentration and the thickness of the spin aligner. Electroluminescence from a reference sample without spin aligner as well as photoluminescence after unpolarized excitation in the spin aligner sample show only the intrinsic polarization in an external magnetic field due to the GaAs bandstructure. We can thus exclude side effects from Faraday effect or magnetic circular dichroism in the semimagnetic layer as the origin of the observed circularly polarized electroluminescence.     

Electroluminescence of excitons in an InGaAs quantum well

We report on electrical injection of excitons in a quantum well placed in the intrinsic region of a p–i–n photodiode. Both the narrow linewidth of the electroluminescence at 70 K and the evolution of the emission spectra with increasing current are signatures of the excitonic character of the emission. This structure is ready to be integrated in semiconductor microcavities in order to evidence the strong coupling regime under electrical injection.