Spin accumulation and decay in magnetic Schottky barriers

TL;DR

This paper investigates charge and spin transport in magnetic Schottky barriers, revealing how interface resistance and transparency influence spin accumulation and decay, with implications for spintronic device efficiency.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of spin transport features in magnetic Schottky barriers and compares experimental interface resistance with first-principles calculations.

Findings

Conductance mismatch enhances spin-imbalance in semiconductors.

Interface resistance derived from Kerr rotation experiments.

Interface transparency increases with bias, improving screening.

Abstract

The theory of charge and spin transport in forward-biased Schottky barriers reveals characteristic and experimentally relevant features. The conductance mismatch is found to enhance the current induced spin-imbalance in the semiconductor. The GaAs|MnAs interface resistance is obtained from an analysis of the magnetic field dependent Kerr rotation experiments by Stephens et al. and compared with first-principles calculations for intrinsic interfaces. With increasing current bias, the interface transparency grows towards the theoretical values, reflecting increasingly efficient Schottky barrier screening.