Terahertz radiation induced spin photocurrents in non-magnetic low dimensional structures

Abstract

Spin photocurrents generated by homogeneous excitation with terahertz radiation in low dimensional structures are reviewed. Three microscopic mechanisms are responsible for the occurrence of an electric current linked to a uniform spin polarization in a quantum well, the circular photogalvanic effect, the spin-galvanic effect and the magneto-gyrotropic effect. These phenomena provide several methods to investigate various spin properties in low dimensional structures like details of band structure and spin relaxation time.