Spin Injection and Relaxation in <i>p</i>-Doped <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" overflow="scroll"><mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo><mml:mi>In</mml:mi><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mi>Ga</mml:mi><mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo><mml:mi>As</mml:mi><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:mi>Ga</mml:mi><mml:mi>As</mml:mi></mml:math> Quantum-Dot Spin Light-Emitting Diodes at Zero Magnetic Field
Alaa E. Giba, Xue Gao, M. Stoffel, Xavier Devaux, Bo Xu, X. Marie, P. Renucci, H. Jaffrès, Jean‐Marie George, Guangwei Cong, Zhanguo Wang, H. Rinnert, Yuan Lü
Abstract
We report on efficient spin injection in p-doped $(\mathrm{In},\mathrm{Ga})\mathrm{As}/\mathrm{Ga}\mathrm{As}$ quantum-dot (QD) spin light-emitting diodes (spin LEDs) under zero applied magnetic field. A high degree of electroluminescence circular polarization (${P}_{c}$) \ensuremath{\sim}19% is measured in remanence up to 100 K. This result is obtained thanks to the combination of a perpendicularly magnetized $\mathrm{Co}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Fe}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{B}/\mathrm{Mg}\mathrm{O}$ spin injector allowing efficient spin injection and an appropriate p-doped $(\mathrm{In},\mathrm{Ga})\mathrm{As}/\mathrm{Ga}\mathrm{As}$ QD layer in the active region. By analyzing the bias and temperature dependence of the electroluminescence circular polarization, we evidence a two-step spin-relaxation process. The first step occurs when electrons tunnel through the $\mathrm{Mg}\mathrm{O}$ barrier and travel across the $\mathrm{Ga}\mathrm{As}$ depletion layer. The spin relaxation is dominated by the Dyakonov-Perel mechanism related to the kinetic energy of electrons, which is characterized by a bias-dependent ${P}_{c}$. The second step occurs when electrons are captured into QDs prior to their radiative recombination with holes. The temperature dependence of ${P}_{c}$ reflects the temperature-induced modification of the QD doping, together with the variation of the ratio between the charge-carrier lifetime and the spin-relaxation time inside the QDs. The understanding of these spin-relaxation mechanisms is essential to improve the performance of spin LEDs for future spin optoelectronic applications at room temperature under zero applied magnetic field.