We report on experiments in which a spin-polarized current is injected from a GaMnAs ferromagnetic electrode into a GaAs layer through an AlAs barrier. The resulting spin polarization in GaAs is detected by measuring how the tunneling current, to a second GaMnAs ferromagnetic electrode, depends on the orientation of its magnetization. Our results can be accounted for by sequential tunneling with the nonrelaxed spin splitting of the chemical potential, that is, spin accumulation, in GaAs. We discuss the conditions on the hole spin relaxation time in GaAs that are required to obtain the large effects we observe.
Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction study of Fe epitaxial ultrathin films (1.5-13 nm) on GaAs (001) reveals an anisotropy of both domain shape and strain, with [110] and [1-10] as the principal directions. It is shown that the observed thickness-dependent strain anisotropy, together with a uniaxial interface term, can provide an unambiguous explanation to the usual in-plane magnetic anisotropy and its thickness dependence observed in this magnetic thin-film system.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.