Waveguides for spin-polarized currents in diluted magnetic semiconductor - nanomagnet hybrids

• Main Author: Cheung, Kelly
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/17893

Diluted magnetic semiconductors in their paramagnetic phase exhibit a giant Zeeman response. This effect can be used in conjunction with external inhomogeneous magnetic fields to engineer spin-polarized charge-carrier eigenstates with certain desirable features. In this thesis, we solve Schrodinger’s equation numerically and examine the charge-carrier wavefunctions in DMS waveguides in the presence of a highly inhomogeneous external magnetic field from an infinitely long rectangular nanomagnet. The low-energy eigenstates are found and their dependence on various parameters, such as size of the nanomagnet, thickness of the DMS waveguide, strength of coupling between the charge-carriers and the magnetic spins in the semiconductor, and addition of other external magnetic fields, is characterized. This geometry is shown to be ideal for creating spin-polarized currents under the nanomagnet’s edges. === Science, Faculty of === Physics and Astronomy, Department of === Graduate