Spin-dependent collection in ferromagnet/semiconductor contacts

In ferromagnet/semiconductor contacts, the different timescales of the phenomena driving the spin transport in the semiconductor induce a strong reduction of the possible spin filtering effect. We propose an original structure with double contacts to overcome this difficulty. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we show that the spin asymmetry of the current collected in such a structure may be significantly higher than in a single contact. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.