Current-induced polarization and the spin Hall effect at room temperature.
Electrically induced electron spin polarization is imaged in n-type ZnSe epilayers using Kerr rotation spectroscopy. Despite no evidence for an electrically induced internal magnetic field, current-induced in-plane spin polarization is observed with characteristic spin lifetimes that decrease with doping density. The spin Hall effect is also observed, indicated by an electrically induced out-of-plane spin polarization with opposite sign for spins accumulating on opposite edges of the sample. The spin Hall conductivity is estimated as 3+/-1.5 Omega(-1) m(-1)/|e| at 20 K, which is consistent with the extrinsic mechanism. Both the current-induced spin polarization and the spin Hall effect are observed at temperatures from 10 to 295 K.
Stern
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NP
Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California-Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
Ghosh
S
S
Xiang
G
G
Zhu
M
M
Samarth
N
N
Awschalom
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DD