三终端多臂量子环中的持续电流

本文提出了三终端多臂量子环模型,并采用特殊方法来计算持续电流,研究发现：总磁通为零时,持续电流随半导体环增大做非周期和不等幅的振荡.总磁通不为零时,持续电流随AB磁通增强做周期性等幅振荡,Rashba自旋轨道耦合具有改变两种持续电流位相和位相差的效应. 平均持续电流的大小与各臂的臂长和所处的位置以及磁通分布相关.AB磁通对两种持续电流具有不同影响,两种持续电流是可分离的.     

Spin-polarized currents in the tunnel contact of a normal conductor and a two-dimensional topological insulator

The spin filtering of electrons tunneling from the edge states of a two-dimensional topological insulator into a normal conductor under a magnetic field (external or induced due to proximity to a magnetic insulator) is studied. Calculations are performed for a tunnel contact of finite length between the topological insulator and an electronic multimode quantum strip. It is shown that the flow of tunneling electrons is split in the strip, so that spin-polarized currents arise in its left and right branches. These currents can be effectively controlled by the contact voltage and the chemical potential of the system. The presence of a magnetic field, which splits the spin subbands of the electron spectrum in the strip, gives rise to switching of the spin current between the strip branches.     

Persistent spin currents in a triple-terminal quantum ring with three arms

A new model of a triple-terminal quantum ring with three arms is proposed.We develop an equivalent method for reducing the triple-terminal quantum ring to the double-terminal quantum ring and calculate the persistent spin currents in this model.The results indicate that the persistent spin currents show behavior of nonperiodic and unequal amplitude oscillation with increasing semiconductor ring size when the total magnetic flux is zero. However,when the total magnetic flux is non-zero,the persistent spin currents make periodic equal amplitude oscillations with increasing AB magnetic flux intensity.At the same time,the two kinds of spin state persistent spin currents have the same frequency and amplitude but the inverse phase.In addition,the Rashba spin-orbit interaction affects the phase and the phase difference of the persistent spin currents.The average persistent spin currents relate to the arm length and the terminal position as well as the distribution of the magnetic flux in each arm.Furthermore, our results indicate that the AB magnetic flux has different influences on the two kinds of spin state electrons.     

Magnetic flux assisted thermospin transport in a Rashba ring

The electron transport through a Rashba ring with a magnetic flux and driven by a temperature difference is investigated. It is found that the spin interference effect induced by the Rashba spin-orbit interaction and by the magnetic flux can break the balance between the spin-up and spin-down component currents in the thermally driven charge current and thus result in a spin current. The analytical derivation and numerical calculations reveal that the magnitude, sign, peaks and spin-polarization of the generated spin current can be readily modulated by the system parameters. In particular, with some choices of the parameters, the spin polarization of the generated spin current can reach 100%, that is, a fully spin-polarized thermospin current can be produced. These results may help the use of the spin-dependent Seebeck effect to generate and manipulate a spin current.     

Arbitrary magnetic field modulations to a semiconductor pump with two types of spin-orbit couplings

Arbitrary magnetic field modulations to the semiconductor pump with both the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit couplings (SOC) are studied. The pump is driven by double time-dependent delta potentials, which are formed in the interfaces between the semiconductor region and two normal leads. Based on the Floquet scattering approach, our calculations show that various currents can be pumped by couplings of the magnetic fields and the SOCs. Pure spin currents modulated by the arbitrary magnetic fields are discussed in detail.     

Spin transport properties in double-barrier systems with diluted magnetic semiconductor doped layers

We have studied spin-polarized currents in resonant tunneling diodes containing diluted magnetic semiconductor layers with different geometries. The spin polarization effects on the resonant current are studied within Green's function formalism following the diagrammatic technique for non-equilibrium processes as proposed by Keldysh, using the one-band tight-binding modeling. The magnetic impurities can be located inside the well or the barrier layers of a diode sample. The resonant I×V curves are analyzed as a function of the magnetic potential strength induced by the magnetic ions.     

Information Processing With Pure Spin Currents in Silicon: Spin Injection, Extraction, Manipulation, and Detection

We demonstrate that information can be transmitted and processed with pure spin currents in silicon. Fe/Al₂O₃ tunnel barrier contacts are used to produce significant electron spin polarization in the silicon, generating a spin current which flows outside of the charge current path. The spin orientation of this pure spin current is controlled in one of three ways: 1) by switching the magnetization of the Fe contact; 2) by changing the polarity of the bias on the Fe/Al₂O₃ "injector" contact, which enables the generation of either majority or minority spin populations in the Si, providing a way to electrically manipulate the injected spin orientation without changing the magnetization of the contact itself; and 3) by inducing spin precession through the application of a small perpendicular magnetic field. Spin polarization by electrical extraction is as effective as that achieved by the more common electrical spin injection. The output characteristics of a planar silicon three-terminal device are very similar to those of nonvolatile giant magnetoresistance metal spin-valve structures.     

Improved magnetooptic modulator for ultrafast current pulses

A technique is proposed to improve the optical response of a magnetooptic (MO) modulator. The rate at which a MO modulator can operate is limited by the relatively slow relaxation of electron spin carrier populations within the MO material. This relaxation time can be more than an order of magnitude longer than the excitation time. Using a current pulse guided by a superconducting stripline it is possible to create a magnetic field within an MO material. This magnetic field rapidly excites electron spin carriers, resulting in the rapid polarization rotation of an optical beam. Providing a second current pulse of opposite sign to the system generates a second rapid excitation of opposite sign electron spin carriers and returns the polarization to its initial direction. This push-pull technique has the potential to create picosecond optical pulses and provides for the full utilization of the picosecond response time of MO materials     

Spin polarization in multilayer ferromagnetic semiconductor

We focus on transport of electron spins, which spin-polarized currents can be controlled and manipulated via the electron energy and momentum. We study in this paper the electronic properties of ferromagnetic phase of a multilayer ferromagnetic semiconductor in the mean-field and effective mass approximations, as a result of the magnetic interaction between holes and Mn ions, the magnetic layers acts as potential barriers for holes with spin-up, and as potential wells for the inverse spin polarization. As an example we calculate the dependence of hole density and the spin polarization in terms of the band offset v_w which describes the difference in electronegativity between the Mn and GaAs atoms. Our calculations are performed using a self-consistent procedure to solve Schrödinguer and Poisson equations taking into account the coulomb interaction between holes.     

具有CoCrPt硬磁偏置的微尺寸巨磁阻传感器

本文介绍了一种基于GMR自旋阀的磁场传感器,它用于读取磁记录信息,并且通过硬磁偏置层解决了小尺寸GMR中存在的巴克豪森噪声问题. 传感器采用顶钉扎的自旋阀结构的GMR,磁电阻经过优化达到13.2%. 自旋阀的自由层被CoCrPt永磁体磁化到和被钉扎层的磁化方向相互垂直,这样可以使磁传感器得到线性的磁场探测性能. 对磁场传感器经过测试发现,硬磁偏置层在磁化后相较于磁化前,磁传感器的MR-H曲线得到明显改善,且矫顽力降低.     

GeTe中铁电极化对自旋霍尔电导的调控研究

利用电场控制电荷的自旋流与电流相互转换是自旋电子器件的关键所在,而这种控制机制在铁电半导体GeTe中可以得到实现,因为其铁电极化可以改变自身的自旋织构。基于密度泛函理论计算,我们发现可以通过铁电极化可以进一步调节自旋霍尔电导(spinHallconductivity,简记为SHC),通过计算得到自旋霍尔电导的一个分量σxyz在带边缘附近可以达到100?/e(?cm)-1的量级,其主要原因在于电极化改变了能带结构。该研究工作为可控的自旋输运的实验和理论研究具有重要的价值,必将推动自旋电子学的进一步发展。     

Ultrafast Photo-Thermal Switching of Terahertz Spin Currents

Dissipationless and scattering-free spin-based terahertz electronics is the futuristic technology for energy-efficient information processing. Femtosecond light pulse provides an ideal pathway for exciting the ferromagnet (FM) out-of-equilibrium, causing ultrafast demagnetization and superdiffusive spin transport at sub-picosecond timescale, giving rise to transient terahertz radiation. Concomitantly, light pulses also deposit thermal energy at short timescales, suggesting the possibility of abrupt change in magnetic anisotropy of the FM that could cause ultrafast photo-thermal switching (PTS) of terahertz spin currents. Here, a single light pulse induced PTS of the terahertz spin current manifested through the phase reversal of the emitted terahertz photons is demonstrated. The switching of the transient spin current is due to the reversal of the magnetization state across the energy barrier of the FM layer. This demonstration opens a new paradigm for on-chip spintronic devices enabling ultralow-power hybrid electronics and photonics fueled by the interplay of charge, spin, thermal, and optical signals.     

Controlling Chiral Spin States of a Triangular‐Lattice Magnet by Cooling in a Magnetic Field

Magnetic materials with a non‐collinear and non‐coplanar arrangement of magnetic moments hosting a nonzero scalar spin‐chirality exhibit unique magnetic and spin‐dependent electronic transport properties. The spin chirality often occurs in materials where competing exchange interactions lead to geometrical frustrations between magnetic moments and to a strong coupling between the crystal lattice and the magnetic structure. These characteristics are particularly strong in Mn‐based antiperovskites where the interactions and chirality can be tuned by substitutional modifications of the crystalline lattice. This study presents evidence for the formation of two unequal chiral spin states in magnetically ordered Mn_3.338Ni_0.651N antiperovskite based on density functional theory calculations and supported by magnetization measurements after cooling in a magnetic field. The existence of two scalar spin‐chiralities of opposite sign and different magnitude is demonstrated by a vertical shift of the magnetic‐field dependent magnetization and Hall effect at low fields and from an asymmetrical magnetoresistivity when the applied magnetic field is oriented parallel or antiparallel to the direction of the cooling field. This opens up the possibility of manipulating the spin chirality for potential use in the emerging field of chiral spintronics.     

量子点接触中的自旋过滤特性

利用可调节自旋过滤器模型,首次计算并讨论了磁场和电子跃迁能量间隔变化对量子点接触结构中自旋电子过滤特性的影响。研究发现,磁场和电子跃迁能量间隔的变化引起了自旋电子隧穿概率和隧穿电导都呈现出量子台阶效应,磁场的增加使电子的回旋频率和电子的Zeeman能级分裂同时加强,从而导致量子点接触结构中的横向约束加强,而自旋过滤效应明显减弱;当磁场一定时,电子跃迁能量间隔越小,电子的自旋过滤效应越明显。电子跃迁能量间隔改变的同时,也改变了鞍形势的势垒形状和自旋过滤的灵敏度。对于不同的材料,同时考虑磁场和电子跃迁能量间隔的作用可以找到自旋过滤器的最佳过滤效果。尤为重要的是过滤器的结构可以用标准的电子束技术很容易得到,所以研究结论为设计新型自旋过滤器提供了理论依据,具有广阔的应用前景和潜在的商业价值。此外,使用朗道因子值较高的材料作自旋过滤器的衬底,可以进一步提高过滤器的性能。     

A micron-sized GMR sensor with a CoCrPt hard bias

A GMR (giant magneto-resistive) spin valve sensor for magnetic recording has been designed in an attempt to solve the Barkhausen noise problem in small-sized GMR sensors. In this study, the GMR ratio of the top-pinned spin valve is optimized to a value of 13.2%. The free layer is magnetized perpendicular to the pinned layer by a CoCrPt permanent magnetic bias so that a linear magnetic field response can be obtained. An obvious improvement on performance is observed when the permanent magnetic bias is magnetized, while the GMR sensor has a steadier MR-H loop and a smaller coercive field.     

New Physical Optics Approach for an Efficient Treatment of Multiple Bounces in Curved Bodies Defined by an Impedance Boundary Condition

A new physical optics (PO) formulation is presented to treat radiation and scattering problems of curved bodies, including multiple reflections between the body parts. The approach uses electric and magnetic PO currents that are expanded as exponential terms. These terms are defined by spatially slow-varying amplitude and exponent functions. All the reflections of a multiple bounce contribution are computed by using PO, considering a very efficient recursive scheme to evaluate the PO integrals using quasi-analytical expressions. The complex problem of obtaining the shadowed areas in curved bodies for multiple reflections is avoided, thanks to the electric and magnetic PO currents chosen. These currents extend over the complete area of the body, including lit or shadowed parts. In the lit parts, the currents provide the reflected field, while in the shadow parts, they give a scattered field that, together with the incident field, causes a total null field in the shadows. The currents do not radiate on their back directions. This approach is useful for the analysis of bodies that can be characterized electrically by an impedance boundary condition (IBC). A combination of these currents with the angular Z-buffer (AZB) ray tracing technique makes it possible to analyze simple or complex cases efficiently.     

Measurement of AC magnetic field distribution using magneticresonance imaging

Electric currents are applied to body in numerous applications in medicine such as electrical impedance tomography, cardiac defibrillation, electrocautery, and physiotherapy. If the magnetic field within a region is measured, the currents generating these fields can be calculated using the curl operator. In this study, magnetic fields generated within a phantom by currents passing through an external wire is measured using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. A pulse sequence that is originally designed for mapping static magnetic field inhomogeneity is adapted. AC current in the form of a burst sine wave is applied synchronously with the pulse sequence. The frequency of the applied current is in the audio range with an amplitude of 175-mA rms. It is shown that each voxel value of sequential images obtained by the proposed pulse sequence is modulated similar to a single-tone broadband frequency modulated (FM) waveform with the AC magnetic field strength determining the modulation index. An algorithm is developed to calculate the AC magnetic field intensity at each voxel using the frequency spectrum of the voxel signal. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can be used to calculate AC magnetic field distribution within a conducting sample that is placed in an MRI system     

A comparison between two kinds of equivalent currents to analyze conducting bodies with apertures using moment methods: Application to horns with symmetry of revolution

A system of integral equations (SIE) based on the unique-hess theorem that uses only electric equivalent currents (EEC) is formulated to analyze conducting bodies with apertures. This SIE is compared with an SIE that uses both electric and magnetic equivalent currents (EMEC). In general, to solve both SIE's numerically difficult computations of Cauchy principal-value integrals with highly singular kernels are required. These integrals appear when computing electric (magnetic) fields created by magnetic (electric) currents. Their evaluation can be avoided using the EEC approach in many practical cases when the main interest is in the radiation patterns of aperture antennas. The two SIE's are compared by carrying out an analysis of rotationally symmetric horns using the moment method (MM) in its formulation for bodies of revolution. Numerical results of electric currents and radiation patterns are presented for small horns of various geometries. These results compare quite well with measurements for both SIE's. However, the central processing unit (CPU) time for the EEC formulation is an order of magnitude smaller than for the EMEC formulation.     

Spin-Polarized Transport in II–VI Magnetic Resonant-Tunneling Devices

This paper investigates electronic transport through II-VI semiconductor resonant-tunneling structures containing diluted magnetic impurities. Due to the exchange interaction between the conduction electrons and the impurities, there arises a giant Zeeman splitting in the presence of a moderately low magnetic field. As a consequence, when the quantum well is magnetically doped, the current-voltage characteristics show two peaks corresponding to transport for each spin channel. This behavior is experimentally observed and can be reproduced with a simple tunneling model. The model thus allows to analyze other configurations. First, the magnetic field was further increased, which leads to a spin polarization of the electronic current injected from the leads, thus giving rise to a relative change in the current amplitude. The authors demonstrate that the spin polarization in the emitter can be determined from such a change. Furthermore, in the case of an injector with magnetic impurities, the model shows a large increase in peak amplitude accompanied by a shift of the resonance to higher voltages with increasing fields. It was found that this effect arises from a combination of 3D incident distribution, giant Zeeman splitting, and broad resonance linewidth     

Hot Electrons and Hot Spins at Metal–Organic Interfaces

A model is developed to describe the electron transport properties of hot electron devices based on organic semiconductors. For the first time, the simulations cover all the different processes the carriers experience in the device, which allows disentangling various effects on the transport characteristics. The model is compared to experimental measurements and excellent agreement is found. In addition, the model includes the electron spin and is thus able to describe a hot spin transistor. In this device, a spatial variation of the spin diffusion length is found, which scales inversely proportional to the variation of the electron density. The spin current can be increased by increasing the hot electron energy and by decreasing the image charge barrier without changing the spin diffusion length. Unprecedented insight into the effect of interfacial disorder at the metal–organic interface on charge and spin transport is provided. Finally, conditions are established, where majority and minority spin carriers propagate in opposite directions, increasing the spin current relative to the charge current and the occurrence of pure spin currents is analyzed.