Electrically generated nuclear spin polarization in In$_{.04}$Ga$_{.96}$As

ORAL

Abstract

The promises of lower power consumption and simple interfacing to magnetic storage has driven interest in the development of spintronics, in which devices could take advantage of electron spin as a means to store, move, and process data. Due to its long lifetime in moderate fields, nuclear polarization could serve as intermediate timescale data storage in both classical spintronic and quantum computation schemes. Here, we investigate the role of nuclear spins in materials with electrically driven spin polarization. The electron spin polarization generated by electrical current in a non-magnetic semiconductor is transferred via dynamic nuclear polarization to the nuclei. The resulting nuclear field is interrogated using Larmor magnetometry. We measure nuclear field as a function of current, applied magnetic field, and temperature. Polarization decay dynamics and the role of nuclei in devices are also discussed.

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Authors

  • Christopher Trowbridge

    University of Michigan Department of Physics

  • Benjamin Norman

    University of Michigan Department of Physics

  • Yuichiro K. Kato

    Institute of Engineering Innovation, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo

  • D.D. Awschalom

    Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, Univ. of California Santa Barbara, Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA, Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, Department of Physics and California Nanosystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California Santa Barbara, Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Vanessa Sih

    University of Michigan Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Department of Physics, University of Michigan