Electrically generated spin accumulation due to the spin Hall effect is imaged in n-GaAs channels using Kerr rotation microscopy, focusing on its spatial distribution and time-averaged behavior in a magnetic field. Spatially-resolved imaging reveals that spin accumulation observed in transverse arms develops due to longitudinal drift of spin polarization produced at the sample boundaries. One- and two-dimensional drift-diffusion modeling is used to explain these features, providing a more complete understanding of observations of spin accumulation and the spin Hall effect.
@article{arxiv.0706.4273,
title = {Drift and Diffusion of Spins Generated by the Spin Hall Effect},
author = {N. P. Stern and D. W. Steuerman and S. Mack and A. C. Gossard and D. D. Awschalom},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0706.4273},
year = {2007}
}