Drift-diffusion model for spin-polarized transport in a non-degenerate 2DEG controlled by a spin-orbit interaction

Abstract

We apply the Wigner function formalism to derive drift-diffusion transport equations for spin-polarized electrons in a III-V semiconductor single quantum well. Electron spin dynamics is controlled by the linear in momentum spin-orbit interaction. In a studied transport regime an electron momentum scattering rate is appreciably faster than spin dynamics. A set of transport equations is defined in terms of a particle density, spin density, and respective fluxes. The developed model allows studying of coherent dynamics of a non-equilibrium spin polarization. As an example, we consider a stationary transport regime for a heterostructure grown along the (0, 0, 1) crystallographic direction. Due to the interplay of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit terms spin dynamics strongly depends on a transport direction. The model is consistent with results of pulse-probe measurement of spin coherence in strained semiconductor layers. It can be useful for studying properties of spin-polarized transport and modeling of spintronic devices operating in the diffusive transport regime.

16 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (11)

• Non-magnetic semiconductor spin transistor
• Magnetic bipolar transistor
• Radiation-induced oscillatory magnetoresistance as a sensitive probe of the zero-field spin splitting in high mobility GaAs/AlGaAs devices
• Transport equations for a two-dimensional electron gas with spin-orbit interaction
• Semiclassical Monte Carlo Model for In-Plane Transport of Spin-Polarized Electrons in III-V Heterostructures
• Spin diffusion at finite electric and magnetic fields
• Kinetic theory of spin transport in n-typed semiconductor quantum wells
• Focusing of Spin Polarization in Semiconductors by Inhomogeneous Doping
• Effect of bulk inversion asymmetry on the Datta-Das transistor
• Drift-Diffusion Approach to Spin-Polarized Transport
• Spin Relaxation of Conduction Electrons in Semiconductors Due to Interaction with Nuclear Spins

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• Spin transport theory in ferromagnet/semiconductor systems with non-collinear magnetization configurations
• Modeling for Semiconductor Spintronics
• Spin-photovoltaic effect in quantum wires due to inter-subband transitions
• Spin diffusion/transport in $n$-type GaAs quantum wells
• Electric generation of spin in crystals with reduced symmetry
• Monte Carlo modeling of spin injection through a Schottky barrier and spin transport in a semiconductor quantum well
• Spin diffusion in Si/SiGe quantum wells: spin relaxation in the absence of D'yakonov-Perel' relaxation mechanism
• Relaxation of Electron Spin during High-Field Transport in GaAs Bulk
• The inequality of charge and spin diffusion coefficients
• Kinetics of Spin Relaxation in Wires and Channels: Boundary Spin Echo and Tachyons
• Spin drift-diffusion for two-subband quantum wells
• Coupled spin-charge drift-diffusion approach for a two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling
• Spin relaxation of "upstream" electrons in quantum wires: Failure of the drift diffusion model
• Generation of spin-polarized currents via cross-relaxation with dynamically pumped paramagnetic impurities
• Decay of Persistent Spin Helix due to the Spin Relaxation at Boundaries
• Spin relaxation in Rashba rings
• Dynamics of Spin Relaxation in Finite-Size 2D Systems: an Exact Solution
• Electrical expression of spin accumulation in ferromagnet/semiconductor structures
• Periodic structure of spin-transfer current in ferromagnetic multilayers
• Two spinorial drift-diffusion models for quantum electron transport in graphene