2004/07/28 by C. Gould, C. Rüster, T. Jungwirth +6
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.93.117203
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 117203, (2004) · 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PRL
arxiv created 2004/07/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
We introduce a new class of spintronics devices in which a spin-valve like effect results from strong spin-orbit coupling in a single ferromagnetic layer rather than from injection and detection of a spin-polarized current by two coupled ferromagnets. The effect is observed in a normal-metal/insulator/ferromagnetic-semiconductor tunneling device. This behavior is caused by the interplay of the anisotropic density of states in (Ga,Mn)As with respect to the magnetization direction, and the two-step magnetization reversal process in this material.