Compact cryogenic Kerr microscope for time-resolved studies of electron spin transport in microstructures.
A compact cryogenic Kerr microscope for operation in the small volume of high-field magnets is described. It is suited for measurements both in Voigt and Faraday configurations. Coupled with a pulsed laser source, the microscope is used to measure the time-resolved Kerr rotation response of semiconductor microstructures with approximately 1 mum spatial resolution. The microscope was designed to study spin transport, a critical issue in the field of spintronics. It is thus possible to generate spin polarization at a given location on a microstructure and probe it at a different location. The operation of the microscope is demonstrated by time-resolved measurements of micrometer distance diffusion of spin polarized electrons in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction quantum well at 4.2 K and 7 T.
Rizo
P J
PJ
Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
Pugzlys
A
A
Liu
J
J
Reuter
D
D
Wieck
A D
AD
van der Wal
C H
CH
van Loosdrecht
P H M
PH