Exploring the role of bound magnetic polaron like formations in tunneling transport

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Charles Gould
• Subject Area: Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2007 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 40956767

The research project is focused on low dimensional resonant tunneling diodes based on all II-VI semiconductor heterostructures, where the reduced dimensionality is not imposed on the true current path, but rather by local environment. Spin filtering through resonant tunneling transport has already been established in two geometries: resonant transport through a paramagnetic quantum well at high fields, and resonant transport through quantum dots, even at zero magnetic field, when the dots are coupled to a paramagnetic environment. As our preliminary work shows, the best features these two geometries can be united, as interface formations in a quantum well lead to the formation of bound magnetic polaron like formations which cause the transport to effectively break up into an ensemble of effectively 0D channels which exhibit zero field spin splitting. The project aims to explore this phenomenology and assess its repercussions for spintronics devices.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1285: Semiconductor Spintronics
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Laurens W. Molenkamp