All electrical measurement of spin injection in a magnetic p-n junction diode

Abstract

Magnetic p-n junction diodes are fabricated to investigate spin-polarized electron transport. The injection of spin-polarized electrons in a semiconductor is achieved by driving electrons from a ferromagnetic injector (Fe), into a bulk semiconductor (n-GaAs) via Schottky contact. For detection, a diluted magnetic semiconductor (p-GaMnAs) layer is used. Clear magnetoresistance was observed only when a high forward bias was applied across the p-n junction.