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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 90 » Issue 21
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 216601 (2003) [4 pages]

Direct Observation of Optically Injected Spin-Polarized Currents in Semiconductors

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J. Hübner and W. W. Rühle
Department of Physics and Materials Science Center, University of Marburg, Renthof 5, 35032 Marburg, Germany

M. Klude and D. Hommel
Institute of Solid State Physics, Semiconductor Epitaxy, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330440, 28334 Bremen, Germany

R. D. R. Bhat, J. E. Sipe, and H. M. van Driel
Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 60 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada

Received 20 December 2002; published 30 May 2003

See accompanying Physics Focus

Quantum interference of one- and two-photon excitation of unbiased semiconductors yields ballistic currents of carriers. The magnitudes and directions of the currents and the spin orientations of the carriers are controlled by the polarization and relative phase of the exciting femtosecond laser fields. We provide direct experimental evidence for the spin polarization of the optically injected spin currents by detecting a phase-dependent spatial shift of the circularly polarized photoluminescence in cubic ZnSe.

© 2003 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.216601
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.216601
PACS:
72.25.Dc, 42.65.–k, 72.25.Fe
 
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