Zusammenfassung
We report on spin-valve experiments in lateral spin-injection devices with different geometries of (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs spin Esaki diode contacts. We study the influence of the geometry of the contacts, i.e., their widths and the crystallographic orientation, on the magnetization reversal process and the resulting pattern observed in the spin-valve signal. We find that tuning of the magnetic anisotropy ...
Zusammenfassung
We report on spin-valve experiments in lateral spin-injection devices with different geometries of (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs spin Esaki diode contacts. We study the influence of the geometry of the contacts, i.e., their widths and the crystallographic orientation, on the magnetization reversal process and the resulting pattern observed in the spin-valve signal. We find that tuning of the magnetic anisotropy of the narrow (Ga,Mn) As stripes by means of lithographically induced anisotropic strain relaxation allows one to realize parallel, antiparallel, and even orthogonal configurations of magnetizations in injector and detector contacts. Understanding of the switching between these configurations during sweeping of the external in-plane magnetic field is crucial for a proper interpretation of the measured nonlocal spin signals.