Tunable polarization of spin polarized current by magnetic field

Abstract

The spin polarization of a high g-factor bulk semiconductor is theoretically investigated in the presence of a magnetic field parallel to a driving electric field. Calculations have been carried out using the energydependent relaxation time approximation in association with spin-flip scattering. As the magnitude of the magnetic field increases, the spin-polarized current alternates between the spin-up and spin-down states for the low spin-scattering system. This implies that the current polarization can be tuned by controlling the magnetic field strength, suggesting possible applications to spintronic devices. An experimental method for investigating alternative current polarization is also considered. @ 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.