Study of spin control in nano-scale artificial material

Research coordinator Research Team Members Hideaki Takayanagi Jorn Bindslev Hansen Detlef Heitmann Supriyo Datta Duration (NTT Basic Research Laboratories (Technical University of Denmark: Denmark) (University of Hamburg: Germany) (Purdue University: USA) Junsaku Nitta NTT Basic Research Laboratories

April, 2000March, 2003

1. Purpose and outline of this project

The purpose of this project is to establish the way to control electron spins in semiconductors. We pursue the possibilities of spin related devices such as spin field effect transistor or spin interference device where spins play a crucial role in their operational principles. We have experimentally confirmed that spin-orbit interaction and electron g-factor in semiconductor two dimensional electron gas can be controlled by the gate voltage. We have also proposed the way to control ferromagnetism in semiconductor quantum dot array. We have
predicted that ferromagnetism and superconductivity can be possible in the special design of quantum dot array. The ferromagnetic state depends on the number of electrons in quantum dot, therefore, ferromagnetic transition can be controlled by the gate voltage. The experimental evidence for the ferromagnetism is now being pursued. For the purpose of field effect spin transistor, spin injection from ferromagnetic electrode into semiconductor 2DEG has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. Our spin injection and detection experiment in NiFe /2DEG InAs/NiFe junctions has showed small change of 0.2 % in the magnetoresistance. We have theoretically shown that spin injection across a hybrid junction is determined by spin-dependent scattering, which can be enhanced by inserting a thin tunneling barrier at the interface. To have a higher spin polarization, we have proposed a spin filter which consists of triple barrier resonant tunneling semiconductor heterostructure.

2. Main results
2-1. Ferromagnetism in quantum dot array [1]-[8] Recent progress in the fabrication technology in nano-scale (nano-technology) has enabled us to make various types of small devices using semiconductor quantum dots. It is

known that a single quantum dot behaves like an artificial atom. Single electron transistor through coupled dots (artificial molecule) are also proposed, where a transition between the bonding and anti-binding states serves as a qubit of quantum computation. We have proposed a new type of device forming a superlattice of quantum dots. If we consider a quantum dot as a building block and put it on a site of the lattice, we can create an artificial crystal having interesting properties. In the dot lattice, we can design any type of lattice structure as we like regardless of the number of electrons in it. Lieb and kagome lattices are interesting examples of such artificial lattices, because they have a dispersion-less subband (flat band) in their single-particle band structures. It has been proven that, in the repulsive Hubbard model of these lattices, ferromagnetism appears.

2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4

Fig1. Band diagram of Kagome superlattice of quantum dot arrays. A dispersion-less flat band is formed. When electrons are filled on this flat band ferromagnetism appears.

Fig. 2 SEM picture of the fabricated Kagome superlattice of quantum dot array. The distance between quantum dots is about 0.5 m.

Furthermore, we have estimated the ferromagnetic transition temperature Tc by taking material parameters and potential profile of the quantum dot into account. It is shown that the Tc of Kagome superlattice is a several 100mK (Dot size is 50 nm and distance between dots is 100 nm) which is observable by using dilution refrigerator. If the distance is shorter than 10 nm, Tc is expected to be more than several 10 K. Dot array can be well described by Hubbard model. In the repulsive Hubbard model, it is pointed out the possibility of superconductivity. We have theoretically shown that superconducting transition temperature can be about 1 K with proper design of quantum dot array and material parameters. We optimized the quantum dot array structures and parameters and the fabrication process. Figure 3 shows the schematic structure of a single quantum dot. The wafer is developed by NTT, and the feature of this GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure is that electron is supplied by the back gate one by one. The surface gate is used to control the coupling between quantum dots. We

observed a Coulomb blockade oscillations in this single quantum dot as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 3 A sample structure of a single quantum dot. The back gate controls the number of electron in the dot.

Fig. 4 Coulomb oscillation observed in a single dot. The red dots are experimental data. The gray scale plot ;is a theory. The dot size is about 500 nm and T= 40 mK.

In a magnetic field, the single-particle energy spectrum of Kagome lattice is modified to be (i.e. Hofstadter's butterfly). The flat band has no dispersion (group velocity is zero) therefore band insulator. However, it becomes metallic state in the magnetic field since it leads to a dispersion. We can expect giant negative magnetotresistance. 2-2. Gate control of spin-orbit interaction [9]-[13] and spin interference device [14]-[16] It is known that spin degereracy is lifted when inversion asymmetry is broken. There are two possible reasons for the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) of conduction bands in semiconductors. In the so-called Dresselhaus mechanism (BIA), crystal inversion asymmetry leads to the SOI. While it is due to the structure inversion asymmetry (SIA) such as asymmetric potential profile of quantum well, it is called Rashba mechanism. The Rashba spin-orbit interaction has a controversial history since it strongly depends on the material growth conditions. If the origin of the SOI is due to the Rashba mechanism, the strength of SOI can be controlled by the gate voltage and layer structure of the heterostructure. In Fig. 5, magnetoresistances (MRs) were measured in four different samples of InGaAs quantum well with the same carrier concentration. The difference is the degree of asymmetry of the quantum well potential profile. When the quantum well is symmetric, we observed a negative MR. While the positive MR was measured in the very asymmetric potential well. The origin of the positive MR stems from the spin orbit scattering. This result shows that the strength of SOI is controlled by the degree of asymmetry of the quantum well. Figure 6 shows the SOI strength a as a function of carrier concentration. Solid lines in this figure are calculations based on kp perturbation theory. The experimental data are well explained. This concludes that the Rashba SOI plays an important role in this InGaAs 2DEG system, and that SOI can be controlled by the gate voltage.

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5 4

eVm] [10
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B [mT]
Fig. 5 Crossover from weak localization to weal anti-localization in InGaAs quantum well. With increasing the degree of asymmetry if quantum well, positive magnetoresistance becomes dominant. The origin of positive magnetoresustance stems from spin-orbit interaction. The solid lines are theoretical

NS [10 cm ]
Fig. 6 Carrier concentration dependence of SOI parameter a. The experimental data (symbols) are well explained in terms of kp theory (lines).

Much attention is focused on mesoscopic transport affected by spin-orbit interaction. The Aharonov-Bohm (AB) structure is an invaluable tool for quantifying interference phenomena in mesoscopic physics. Spin-orbit induced geometrical Berry phase was theoretically predicted and was experimentally investigated from the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) spectrum.Electron spins during their motion precess under an effective magnetic field induced by SOI in 2DEG. According to the weak anti-localization analysis, the main spin relaxation in our system is governed by Dyakonov-Perel mechanism where spin precession plays a role. In AB ring structure with Rashba SOI, we can expect spin interference by controlling the spin precession angle. A spin interference device of AB ring structure with SOI was proposed (J. Nitta, F. Meijer, and H. Takayanagi, Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, 895 (1999)). We have tried to realize this spin interference device. Figure 7 shows a SEM picture of the fabricated device. The 2DEG channel is InGaAs, and the AB ring is covered by the gate which is used for controlling SOI. The gate voltage dependence of AB oscillations is shown in Fig. 8. The radius and channel width of the fabricated AB-ring are 0.79 m and 0.24 m, respectively. Both h/e and h/2e oscillations are visible. The h/2e oscillations include a time reversal symmetric interference where electron phase shifts between the clockwise and the anti-clockwise trajectories are identical. Therefore, only phase shift of spin part contributes an interference. To pick up the h/2e oscillations of time reversal operations, we performed ensemble averaging. We found the ensemble averaged h/2e oscillation amplitude is modulated by the gate voltage.

Vg=-0.1 V (bottom) to 0.05V (top) in step 0.01 V 300

R ()

200

100

0 -10 -5 0 5 10

B (mT)

Fig. 7 SEM picture of the fabricated AB ring structure. The AB ring is covered with gate electrode for controlling SOI.

Fig. 8 Gate voltage dependence of AB oscillations.

2-3. Characterization of micro magnets using local Hall effect device [17]-[20] It becomes very difficult to measure magnetization of sub-micron size magnets even by using a commercial SQUID. Local Hall effect devices which consists of semiconductor Hall bar and small magnet were fabricated to measure the magnetization process of the small magnets. The SEM picture of the fabricated local Hall effect device is shown in the inset of Fig. 10. The perpendicular component of magnetic field from the edge of small magnet NiFe is detected by the Hall voltage. The external magnetic field was applied in parallel to the 2DEG and easy axis of the magnet. Therefore, the external magnetic field does not affect the Hall voltage. As shown in Fig. 9, the width of hysteresis appeared in the Hall measurement increased with decreasing the magnet width W at W < 1 m. This result is well explained in terms of model calculation based on LLG equation (Fig. 10). Magnetic force microscope (MFM) observation also supports the local Hall measurement result. It is concluded that the jump appeared in the Hall resistance corresponds to the coercive field. From this width dependence, we can make parallel and anti-parallel configuration in NiFe/semiconductor/NiFe junctions if the widths of the NiFe electrodes are different. On the contrary, diluted magnetic semiconductor InMnAs did not show the width dependence of the coercive field down to 0.7 m. We also measured the magnetization of small ferromagnetic ring structures. The Hall resistance shows two step-wise hysteresis loop. By comparing with the model calculation, it is shown that flux closed loop is stable in the small ferromagnetic ring structures.
6

Ni Fe
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W= 2 m 1 m 0.6 m 0.42 m 0.24 m

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Fig. 9 loop.

Width dependence of Hall resistance hysteresis

Fig. 10 Width dependence of coercive field. The filled triangles are model calculation based on LLG equation. Inset shows SEM picture of local Hall effect device.

2-4. Spin injection into semiconductor/ carbon nano-tube[21]-[30], and spin filter[31]-[33] We have performed a spin injection and detection experiment in NiFe/2DEG InAs/NiFe junctions. The MR change is 0.2 %, therefore, it is concluded that the spin injection efficiency is very small. We have theoretically shown that the spin injection efficiency is much improved if there is a tunneling barrier between ferromagnet (F) and semiconductor 2DEG (S). It is know that one dimensional ballistic transport is realized in single wall carbon nano-tubes (SWN). It is also expected that spin diffusion length is very long in SWNs. The spin injection and detection experiment was done by using GaMnAs/SWN/GaMnAs junctions. GaMnAs electrodes were grown by MBE on top of the SWN. Figure 11 shows the AFM picture of the fabricated junction. The magnetoconductance (MC) hysteresis loops were observed as shown in Fig. 12. At T= 310 mK, a large MC of 60% was observed. We still need the systematic study to check whether this large MR effect is due to the spin injection effect or not. However, 60 % MC is possible based on the Jullieres model since it is reported that spin polarization of GaMnAs is 85 %.

Fig. 11 AFM picture of junction.

GaMnAs/SWN/GaMnAs

Fig. 12 Magnetoconductance hysreresis loops in GaMnAs/SWN/GaMnAsjuncti.

It is the best way to make a spin polarized electron only by using non-magnetic semiconductor materials since it is very easy to combine very high quality of 2DEG system. We have proposed spin-filter device made of non-magnetic semiconductors. The key idea of this device is that combination of the spin resonant tunneling and the spin splitting in quantum wells can lead to spin filter function. Figure 13 shows the layer structure and the potential profile of the spin filter of triple barrier resonant tunneling diode structure. The spin splitting in two quantum wells is opposite by making a mountain like potential profile. To realize this, accepter is doped in the middle barrier, and doner is doped in the side barriers. The calculation as shown in Fig. 14 indicates that well separated spin tunneling current is possible. Almost 100% spin polarized tunneling current is possible in this proposed spin filter device.

Fig. 13 Potential profile of triple barrier resonant tunneling spin filter device. The effect of SOI is opposite between two quantum wells.

Fig. 14 Calculated I-V characteristics in spin filter device. The dotted and solid lines correspond to spin up and down current, respectively.

2-5. Gate control of electron g-factor [34]-[36] It is necessary to control an electron spin in a target quantum dot when the quantum dot is used for quantum qu-bit. If the electron g-factor of the qu-bit in a magnetic field is modified, the resonant frequency to control the electron spin is different from the other qu-bits. Therefore, we can select the target qu-bit to control. From the above point of view, much attention is focused on the g-factor engineering. Recently, it is reported that g-factor in GaAs/AlGaAs is controlled by the gate voltage. An electron g-factor of InAs-inserted InGaAs/InAlAs heterostructure has been deduced from the so-called coincidence method. We have found that the electron g-factor of this system can be controlled by the gate voltage. The Zeeman energy is determined by the total magnetic field while Landau level spacing depends on the perpendicular component of the magnetic field since the orbital motion is limited in 2DEG. Therefore, the ratio between Zeeman and Landau level spacing is tuned by tiling the magnetic field direction. When the ration is 1/2, the amplitude of Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations becomes minima. From the minima tilting angle and effective mass, we can deduce the g-factor. Figure 15 shows the angle dependence of SdH oscillations at Vg= 0. The oscillation minima appear around 80.6 deg, and after increasing angle further the SdH oscillation amplitude increase again. We deduced the g-factor of 3.8 from the critical angle and effective mass obtained from the temperature dependence of SdH oscillations. The gate voltage dependence of g-factor is shown in Fig. 16, indicating that g-factor can be controlled by the gate voltage. The dotted line in Fig. 16 is a calculation based on kp perturbation theory. The experimental result suggests that penetration of the electron wavefunction from InAs ito InGaAs plays a role to determine g-factor.

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65deg 69.5deg 77.25deg 79.4deg 80.6deg 81.8deg 83.7deg 0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 Bperp(T) 0.95 1.00

3.5 3.0 2.5 -4 -2 0 Vg(V) 2 4

Fig. 14 Angle dependence of SdH oscillations at Vg= 0 V. The oscillation amplitude becomes minima around 80.6 deg.

Fig. 16 Gate voltage dependence of g-factor. The dotted line is calculation based on kp theory.

We studied theoretically many-body effect in a bilayer 2DEGs and found that its space symmetry has fundamental influences on the collective charge-density excitations. Using FIR spectroscopy we observed intrasubband optical plasmon and an intersubband plasmon mode. We studied their behavior by changing the space symmetry of the bilayer system. Gate voltage dependent plasmon modes measured on bilayer sample at 2.2 K. The three low lying modes whose frequencies increase with increasing gate voltage (i.e. electron density) are identified as the optical plasmon with q n = 2n a , n=1,2, and 3, respectively. The mode with high frequency is identified as the recent predicted acoustic plasmon mode. The gate voltage dependence of all the plasmon modes observed in our experiment agree well with our recent theory. [37[-[40]

3. Summary In this project, we have studied on spin control in semiconductor nano-structures. We have shown that electrical control of spins is possible by designing special semiconductor heterostructures and nano-fabrications. The main feature of semiconductor is that gate voltage can control the channel properties. On the basis of this gate controllability, modern electronics is developed from transistors to LSI. We hope that our results obtained through this NEDO international project will contribute to the future spintronics and quantum information technology. We acknowledge the generous support of NEDO, which is indispensable for conducting this international joint project. This project was supported by many researchers who were not

official NEDO team members. We would like to thank Prof. P. E. Lindelof in Copenhagen University, Prof. U. Merkt and Dr. Can-Ming Hu in Hamburg University, Dr. T. Koga and Dr. H. Tamura in NTT Basic Research Laboratories for their support.

Publications from this project

[1] H. Tamura, K. Shiraishi H. Takayanagi, Phys. Stat. Sol. 224, 48 (2001). [2] K. Shiraishi, H. Tamura , H. Takayanagi, Appl. Phys. Lett. 78 , 3702 (2001). [3] H. Tamura, K. Shiraishi, T. Kimura, H. Takayanagi, Kotai-Butsuri (in Japanese) 36, 85 (2001). [4] H. Tamura, K. Shiraishi, T. Kimura, H. Takayanagi, Phys. Rev. B. 65 085324-1(2002). [5] T. Kimura, H. Tamura, K. Shiraishi, H. Takayanagi, Phys. Rev. B 65, 081307-1(R) (2002). [6] A. Richter, K. Matsuda, Y. Harada, H. Tamura, T. Akazaki, Y. Hirayama, and H. Takayanagi, Physica Status Solidi in press [7] T. Kimura, H. Tamura, K. Kuroki, K. Shiraishi, H. Takayanagi and R. Arita, Phys. Rev. B 66, 132508 (2002). [8] T. Kimura, H. Tamura, K. Kuroki, K. Shiraishi, H. Takayanagi and R. Arita, Physica B in press [9] T. Koga, J. Nitta, T. Akazaki, and H. Takayanagi, IPAP Conf. Series 2 227 (2001) [10] T. Koga, J. Nitta, T. Akazaki, and H. Takayanagi, Physica E 13 542 (2002)
[11] C. -M. Hu, C. Zehnder, Ch. Heyn, D. Heitmann, Phys. Rev. B, 67, 201302(R) (2003).

Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 046801 (2002) and

[12] T. Koga , J. Nitta and S. Marcet, Journal of Superconductivity and Magnetism, 16, 331 (2003). [13] C. Zehnder, A. Wirthmann, Ch. Heyn, D. Heitmann and C. -M. Hu, Euro. Phys. Lett. 63, 576, (2003). [14] J. Nitta, T. Koga, and H. Takayanagi, Physica E 12 753-757 (2002). [15] J. Nitta, T. Koga, and F. Meijer (Invited), Physica E 18, 143 (2003) [16] J. Nitta and T. Koga, Journal of Superconductivity and Magnetism (Invited) 16, 689 (2003) [17] J. Nitta, T. Schaepers, H. B. Heersche, T. Koga, Y. Sato and H. Takayanagi, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 41 2497 (2002) [18] J. Nitta, FED Review 1, 10 (2002).
[19] C. H. Mller, O. Kronenwerth, D. Grundler, W. Hansen, Ch. Heyn, and D. Heitmann, Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 3988 (2002).

[20] S. Marcus and J. Nitta, submitted to Appl. Phys. Lett. [21] J. Nitta, Can-Ming Hu, A. Jensen, J. B. Hansen and H. Takayanagi, (invited) Physica E10 467 (2001) and Physica C352 215 (2001).

[22] J. Nitta, Ohyo-Butsuri 70 296 (2001) ( in Japanese) [23] C. -M. Hu, J. Nitta, A. Jensen, J. B. Hansen, and H. Takayanagi, Phys. Rev. B 63, 125333 (2001). [24] C. -M. Hu, and T. Matsuyama, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 066803 (2001). [25] H. B. Heersche, Th. Schaepers, J. Nitta, and H. Takayanagi, Phys. Rev. B64 161307(R) (2001) and IPAP Conf. Series 2 254 (2001). [26] Th. Schaepers, J. Nitta, H. B. Heersche, and H. Takayanagi, Phys. Rev. B64 125314 (2001) and Physica E 13, 564 (2002) [27] C.-M. Hu, J. Nitta, A. Jensen, J.B. Hansen, H. Takayanagi, T. Matsuyama, D. Heitmann, and U. Merkt (Invited) J. Appl. Phys. 91, 7251 (2002) and Physica E 12, 395 (2002). [28] T. Matsuyama, C.-M. Hu, D. Grundler, G. Meier, and U. Merkt, Phys. Rev. B 65, 155322 (2002). [29] C.-M. Hu, J. Nitta, A. Jensen, J.B. Hansen, H. Takayanagi, T. Matsuyama, D. Grundler, G. Meier, D. Heitmann, and U. Merkt, Physica E 12, 395 (2002). [30] J. Nitta, Electrochemistry 71, 180 (2003) (in Japanese) [31] T. Koga, J. Nitta, H. Takayanagi, and S. Datta, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 126601 (2002) and Physica E 18, 161 (2003) [32] T. Koga, J. Nitta, T. Akazaki, and H. Takayanagi, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 41 2501 (2002) [33] T. Koga, J. Nitta, and S. Datta, The proceedings of 26th International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors, Edinburgh (2002) [34] J. Nitta, T. Koga, and T. Akazaki, The proceedings of 15th International Conference on High Magnetic Fields in Semiconductor Physics [35] J. Nitta, Y. Lin, T. Koga, and T. Akazaki to be published in Appl. Phys. Lett. [36] Y. Lin, J. Nitta, T. Koga, and T. Akazaki to be published in Physica E
[37] C. -M. Hu, C. Schller, and D. Heitmann, Phys. Rev. B 64, 073303 (2001).

[38] S. Holland, K. Bittkau, C.-M. Hu, Ch. Heyn, and D. Heitmann, Phys. Rev. B, 66, 233302 (2002). [39] S. Holland, C.-M. Hu, Ch. Heyn, and D. Heitmann, Phys. Rev. B, 66, 073305 (2002). [40] M.T. Bootsmann, C.-M. Hu, Ch. Heyn, D. Heitmann, and C. Schller, Phys. Rev. B 67, 121309(R) (2003).

Patents
2001-149376 2002-329500 2002-329648 2002-256036 Semicondutor Spin Filter T. Koga, J. Nitta, T. Akazaki, and H.Takayanagi Spin Filter Device Spin Filter Ferromagnet T. Koga and J. Nitta T. Koga and J. Nitta H. Tamura and H. Takayanagi