Controlling the Spin Polarization of the Electron Current in a Semimagnetic Resonant-Tunneling Diode

TL;DR

This paper theoretically investigates how a ZnMnSe-based resonant-tunneling diode can control electron spin polarization, revealing conditions for total spin filtering and the influence of material composition, magnetic field, and bias voltage.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical analysis of spin filtering in semimagnetic RTDs, highlighting the impact of magnesium ion distribution and external magnetic fields on spin polarization control.

Findings

Total suppression of spin-up electron current at specific Fermi levels.

Dependence of spin polarization degree on magnetic field and bias voltage.

Prediction of total spin polarization under certain conditions.

Abstract

The spin filtering effect of the electron current in a double-barrier resonant-tunneling diode (RTD) consisting of ZnMnSe semimagnetic layers has been studied theoretically. The influence of the distribution of the magnesium ions on the coefficient of the spin polarization of the electron current has been investigated. The dependence of the spin filtering degree of the electron current on the external magnetic field and the bias voltage has been obtained. The effect of the total spin polarization of the electron current has been predicted. This effect is characterized by total suppression of the spin-up component of electron current, that takes place when the Fermi level coincides with the lowest Landau level for spin-up electrons in the RTD semimagnetic emitter.