Doppler velocimetry of spin propagation in a two-dimensional electron gas
Doppler velocimetry of spin propagation in a two-dimensional electron gas
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DOI:
10.1038/nphys2157
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发表时间:
2011-12
期刊:
影响因子:
19.6
通讯作者:
Lu-Xing Yang;Lu-Xing Yang;J. Koralek;J. Orenstein;J. Orenstein;D. Tibbetts;J. Reno;M. Lilly
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Lu-Xing Yang;Lu-Xing Yang;J. Koralek;J. Orenstein;J. Orenstein;D. Tibbetts;J. Reno;M. Lilly
Controlling the flow of electrons by manipulating their spin is a key to the development of spin-based electronics. Recent demonstrations of electrical-gate control in spin-transistor configurations have shown great promise, but operation at room temperature remains elusive. Further progress requires a deeper understanding of the propagation of spin polarization, particularly in the high-mobility semiconductors used for devices. Here we report the application of Doppler velocimetry to resolve the motion of spin-polarized electrons in GaAs quantum wells driven by a drifting Fermi sea. We find that the spin mobility tracks the high electron mobility precisely as a function of temperature. However, we also observe that the coherent precession of spins driven by spin–orbit interaction, which is essential for the operation of a broad class of spin logic devices, breaks down at temperatures above 150 K, for reasons that are not yet understood theoretically.