English

Spin injection through the depletion layer: a theory of spin-polarized p-n junctions and solar cells

Materials Science 2009-11-07 v1 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Abstract

A drift-diffusion model for spin-charge transport in spin-polarized {\it p-n} junctions is developed and solved numerically for a realistic set of material parameters based on GaAs. It is demonstrated that spin polarization can be injected through the depletion layer by both minority and majority carriers, making all-semiconductor devices such as spin-polarized solar cells and bipolar transistors feasible. Spin-polarized {\it p-n} junctions allow for spin-polarized current generation, spin amplification, voltage control of spin polarization, and a significant extension of spin diffusion range.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0103473,
  title  = {Spin injection through the depletion layer: a theory of spin-polarized p-n junctions and solar cells},
  author = {Igor Zutic and Jaroslav Fabian and S. Das Sarma},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0103473},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

4 pages, 3 figures