Non-magnetic semiconductor spin transistor

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel non-magnetic semiconductor spin transistor leveraging bulk inversion asymmetry in (110) quantum wells, demonstrating large spin splittings and potential applications in spintronics and magnetic sensing.

Contribution

It proposes a new spin transistor design using non-magnetic materials with BIA effects, including detailed electronic structure calculations and potential device functionalities.

Findings

Large spin splittings in InAs/GaSb/AlSb heterostructures

Enhanced spin decay times in (110) quantum wells

Potential for spin valve and magnetic field sensor applications

Abstract

We propose a spin transistor using only non-magnetic materials that exploits the characteristics of bulk inversion asymmetry (BIA) in (110) symmetric quantum wells. We show that extremely large spin splittings due to BIA are possible in (110) InAs/GaSb/AlSb heterostructures, which together with the enhanced spin decay times in (110) quantum wells demonstrates the potential for exploitation of BIA effects in semiconductor spintronics devices. Spin injection and detection is achieved using spin-dependent resonant interband tunneling and spin transistor action is realized through control of the electron spin lifetime in an InAs lateral transport channel using an applied electric field (Rashba effect). This device may also be used as a spin valve, or a magnetic field sensor. The electronic structure and spin relaxation times for the spin transistor proposed here are calculated using a nonperturbative 14-band k.p nanostructure model.