Electrical spin injection from Fe into ZnSe(001)

We have electrically injected spin-polarized current from ferromagnetic Fe(001) contacts into n-type ZnSe(001) using reverse-biased Schottky tunnel barriers which form at the Fe/ZnSe interface. Electrons transport through 3000 A of n-ZnSe and radiatively recombine in GaAs, where the circular polarization of the electroluminescence provides a quantitative measure of spin polarization. We measure electron spin polarizations over 50% in the GaAs up to 100 K. Spin injection efficiencies achieved in Fe/ZnSe are comparable to those reported for Fe/AlGaAs or Fe/GaAs Schottky tunnel structures, consistent with the common band symmetries of the Fe majority band and the conduction band of the respective semiconductor.