Bidirectional resonant tunneling spin pump

Abstract

We propose a mechanism for achieving bidirectional spin pumping in conventional nonmagnetic semiconductorresonant tunnelingheterostructures under zero magnetic field. The device is designed specifically to take advantage of the special spin configuration described by the Rashba effect in asymmetric quantum wells. It induces the simultaneous flow of oppositely spin-polarized current components in opposite directions through spin-dependent resonant tunneling, and can thus generate significant levels of spin current with very little net electrical current across the tunnel structure, a condition characterized by a greater-than-unity current spin polarization. We also present modeling results on temperature dependence and finite device size effects.