Observation of the Spin Hall Effect in Semiconductors

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 306; no. 5703; pp. 1910 - 1913
• Main Authors: Kato, Y. K., Myers, R. C., Gossard, A. C., Awschalom, D. D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 10.12.2004; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Crystals; Current density; Density; Electric current; Electric fields; Electromagnetism; Electron spin; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronic transport in condensed matter; Electronic transport in interface structures; Electrons; Exact sciences and technology; Hall effect; Lasers; Magnetic fields; Physics; Properties; Quantum hall effect (including fractional); Research Article; Rotation; Semiconductors; Semiconductors (Materials); Spin polarized transport; Spin polarized transport; Gallium arsenides; Epitaxial layers; Semiconductor materials; Crystal orientation; Ternary compounds; Images; Spin polarization; Binary compounds; Hall effect; Indium arsenides; Spin Hall effect; Thin films; Kerr effect; Microscopy; Mechanical stress
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1105514

Electrically induced electron-spin polarization near the edges of a semiconductor channel was detected and imaged with the use of Kerr rotation microscopy. The polarization is out-of-plane and has opposite sign for the two edges, consistent with the predictions of the spin Hall effect. Measurements of unstrained gallium arsenide and strained indium gallium arsenide samples reveal that strain modifies spin accumulation at zero magnetic field. A weak dependence on crystal orientation for the strained samples suggests that the mechanism is the extrinsic spin Hall effect.