Abstract
The mechanisms for spin relaxation in semiconductors are reviewed, and the mechanism prevalent in p-doped semiconductors, namely spin relaxation due to the electron-hole exchange interaction, or Bir-Aronov-Pikus mechanism, is presented in some depth. It is shown that the solution of Boltzmann-type kinetic equations allows one to obtain quantitative results for spin relaxation in semiconductors that go beyond the original Bir-Aronov-Pikus relaxation-rate approximation. Experimental results using surface-sensitive two-photon photoemission techniques show that the relaxation time of the electron spin polarization in p-doped GaAs at a semiconductor/metal surface is several times longer than the corresponding bulk spin-relaxation times. A theoretical explanation of these results in terms of the reduced density of holes in the band-bending region at the surface is presented.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
G. A. Prinz: Device physics -- magnetoelectronics, Science 282, 1660 (1998)
L. J. Sham: Semiconductor devices -- closer to coherence control, Science 277, 1258 (1997)
H. Akinaga, H. Ohno: Semiconductor spintronics, IEEE Trans. Nanotechnol. 1, 19 (2002)
J. M. Kikkawa, D. D. Awschalom: Resonant spin amplification in n-type GaAs, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 4313 (1998)
G. Schmidt, D. Ferrand, L. W. Molenkamp, A. T. Filip, B. J. van Wees: Fundamental obstacle for electrical spin injection from a ferromagnetic metal into a diffusive semiconductor, Phys. Rev. B 62, R4790 (2000)
B. T. Jonker: Progress toward electrical injection of spin-polarized electrons into semiconductors, Proc. IEEE 91, 727 (2003)
D. D. Awschalom, D. Loss, N. Samarth (Eds.): Semiconductor Spintronics and Quantum Computation (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2002)
E. Johnston-Halperin, D. Lofgreen, R. K. Kawakami, D. K. Young, L. Coldren, A. C. Gossard, D. D. Awschalom: Spin-polarized Zener tunneling in (Ga,Mn)As, Phys. Rev. B 65, 041306 (2002)
S. A. Crooker, D. D. Awschalom, J. J. Baumberg, F. Flack, N. Samarth: Optical spin resonance and transverse spin relaxation in magnetic semiconductor quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B 56, 7574 (1997)
S. Hallstein, J. D. Berger, M. Hilpert, H. C. Schneider, W. W. Rühle, F. Jahnke, S. W. Koch, H. M. Gibbs, G. Khitrova, M. Oestreich: Manifestation of coherent spin precession in stimulated semiconductor emission dynamics, Phys. Rev. B 56, R7076 (1997)
P. Y. Yu, M. Cardona: Fundamentals of Semiconductors, 3 ed. (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2001)
G. L. Bir, G. E. Pikus: Symmetry and Strain-Induced Effects in Semiconductors (Wiley, New York 1974)
E. L. Ivchenko, G. E. Pikus: Superlattices and Other Heterostructures, vol. 110, 2 ed., Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 1997)
R. Winkler: Spin-Orbit Coupling Effects in Two-Dimensional Electron and Hole Systems, vol. 191, Springer Tracts in Modern Physics (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2003)
G. E. Pikus, A. N. Titkov: Spin relaxation under optical orientation in semiconductors, in F. Meier, B. P. Zakharchenya (Eds.): Optical Orientation, vol. 8, Modern Problems in Condensed Matter Sciences (North-Holland, Amsterdam 1984) pp. 73--131
C. Kittel: Quantum Theory of Solids (Wiley 1987)
B. A. Sanborn, B. Y. K. Hu, S. Das Sarma: Correction to the decay rate of nonequilibrium carrier distributions due to scattering-in processes, Phys. Rev. B 49, 7767 (1994)
P. H. Song, K. W. Kim: Spin relaxation of conduction electrons in bulk III--V semiconductors, Phys. Rev. B 66, 035207 (2002)
M. I. Dyakonov, V. I. Perel: Spin orientation of electrons associated with interband absorption of light in semiconductors, Sov. Phys. JETP 33, 1053 (1971)
G. L. Bir, A. G. Aronov, G. E. Pikus: Spin relaxation of electrons due to scattering by holes, Sov. Phys. JETP 42, 705 (1976)
G. E. Pikus, G. L. Bir: Exchange interaction in excitons in semiconductors, Sov. Phys. JETP 33, 208 (1971)
M. Z. Maialle: Spin relaxation of electrons in p-doped quantum wells via the electron--hole exchange interaction, Phys. Rev. B 54, 1967 (1996)
L. Reichl: A Modern Course in Statistical Physics (University of Texas Press, Austin 1980)
I. vZuti´c, J. Fabian, S. Das Sarma: Spintronics: Fundamentals and applications, Rev. Mod. Phys. 76, 323 (2004)
L. J. Sham: Theory of spin coherence in semiconductor heterostructures, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 200, 219 (1999)
M. W. Wu, H. Metiu: Kinetics of spin coherence of electrons in an undoped semiconductor quantum well, Phys. Rev. B 61, 2945 (2000)
F. Meier, B. P. Zakharchenya (Eds.): Optical Orientation (North-Holland, Amsterdam 1984)
M. M. Glazov, E. L. Ivchenko: Precession spin relaxation mechanism caused by frequent electron--electron collisions, JETP Lett. 75, 403 (2002)
M. Q. Weng, M. W. Wu: Spin-dephasing in n-type GaAs quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B 68, 075312 (2003)
C. Lechner, U. Rössler: An extension of the optical bloch equations: A microscopic approach including spin and carrier--phonon scattering (2004), cond-mat/0412370
W. Schäfer, M. Wegener: Semiconductor Optics and Transport Phenomena (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2002)
R. Binder, S. W. Koch: Nonequilibrium semiconductor dynamics, Prog. Quant. Electron. 19, 307 (1995)
M. Kira, F. Jahnke, W. Hoyer, S. W. Koch: Quantum theory of spontaneous emission and coherent effects in semiconductor microstructures, Prog. Quant. Electron. 23, 189 (1999)
F. Rossi, T. Kuhn: Theory of ultrafast phenomena in photoexcited semiconductors, Rev. Mod. Phys. 74, 895 (2002)
H. Haug, S. W. Koch: Quantum Theory of the Optical and Electronic Properties of Semiconductors, 4 ed. (World Scientific, Singapore 2004)
B. Beschoten, E. Johnston-Halperin, D. K. Young, M. Poggio, J. E. Grimaldi, S. Keller, S. P. DenBaars, U. K. Mishra, E. L. Hu, D. D. Awschalom: Spin coherence and dephasing in GaN, Phys. Rev. B 6312, 121202 (2001)
A. Sutton, R. Balluffi: Interfaces in Crystalline Materials, vol. 51, Monographs on the Physics and Chemistry of Materials (Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995)
W. Mönch: Semiconductor Surfaces and Interfaces, 3 ed., Springer Series in Surface Sciences (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2001)
D. T. Pierce, F. Meier: Photoemission of spin-polarized electrons from GaAs, Phys. Rev. B 13, 5484 (1976)
M. Aeschlimann, M. Bauer, S. Pawlik, W. Weber, R. Burgermeister, D. Oberli, H. C. Siegmann: Ultrafast spin-dependent electron dynamics in fcc Co, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 5158 (1997)
J. Kirschner: Sources and detectors for polarized electrons, in R. Feder (Ed.): Polarized Electrons in Surface Physics (World Scientific, Singapore 1985)
F. Bentivegna, P. Yvernault, A. V. Petukhov, T. Rasing: Time-resolved photo-induced nonlinear magneto-optical Kerr effect for the study of spin dynamics at a GaAs (001) surface, Appl. Phys. B 68, 519 (1999)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ohms, T., Hiebbner, K., Schneider, H.C., Aeschlimann, M. Spin- and Energy Relaxation of Hot Electrons at GaAs Surfaces. In: Hillebrands, B., Thiaville, A. (eds) Spin Dynamics in Confined Magnetic Structures III. Topics in Applied Physics, vol 101. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg . https://doi.org/10.1007/10938171_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/10938171_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-20108-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-39842-4
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)