Optically oriented electron spin transmission across ferromagnet/ semiconductor interfaces

Electron spin transmission across ferromagnetic metal/semiconductor interfaces with different ferromagnetic contacts, i.e., Fe and FeGa, is studied using optical spin orientation method. The bias dependence of spin dependent photocurrent, which is the difference between the photocurrents excited with left- and right- handed circularly polarized lights, is found to show a dip-like feature at -0.058 and 0.021 V for Fe and FeGa contacts, respectively. The origin of the bias dependence of the spin dependent photocurrent is discussed on the basis of the Breit-Wigner type resonant tunneling process via interface resonant states, comparing the results for the both contacts. The results also indicate that the control of interface states is crucial to achieve efficient spin filtering effect at the ferromagnet/semiconductor interfaces.