Sebastian Heedt

Electrical Spin Injection into InN Semiconductor Nanowires

We report on the conditions necessary for the electrical injection of spin-polarized electrons into indium nitride nanowires synthesized from the bottom up by molecular beam epitaxy. The presented results mark the first unequivocal evidence of spin injection into III-V semiconductor nanowires. Utilizing a newly developed preparation scheme, we are able to surmount shadowing effects during the metal deposition. Thus, we avoid strong local anisotropies that arise if the ferromagnetic leads are wrapping around the nanowire. Using a combination of various complementary techniques, inter alia the local Hall effect, we carried out a comprehensive investigation of the coercive fields and switching behaviors of the cobalt micromagnetic spin probes. This enables the identification of a range of aspect ratios in which the mechanism of magnetization reversal is single domain switching. Lateral nanowire spin valves were prepared. The spin relaxation length is demonstrated to be about 200 nm, which provides an incentive to pursue the route toward nanowire spin logic devices.

Amphoteric nature of Sn in CdS nanowires.

High-quality CdS nanowires with uniform Sn doping were synthesized using a Sn-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition method. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy demonstrate the single crystalline wurtzite structure of the CdS/Sn nanowires. Both donor and acceptor levels, which originate from the amphoteric nature of Sn in II-VI semiconductors, are identified using low-temperature microphotoluminescence. This self-compensation effect was cross examined by gate modulation and temperature-dependent electrical transport measurement. They show an overall n-type behavior with relatively low carrier concentration and low carrier mobilities. Moreover, two different donor levels due to intrinsic and extrinsic doping could be distinguished. They agree well with both the electrical and optical data.

Signatures of interaction-induced helical gaps in nanowire quantum point contacts

Signatures of spin–momentum-locked gap states in nanowire quantum point contacts that have all-electrical origin could provide the conditions for the quasiparticle excitations required for topological quantum computing.

Crystal Phase Transformation in Self-Assembled InAs Nanowire Junctions on Patterned Si Substrates

We demonstrate the growth and structural characteristics of InAs nanowire junctions evidencing a transformation of the crystalline structure. The junctions are obtained without the use of catalyst particles. Morphological investigations of the junctions reveal three structures having an L-, T-, and X-shape. The formation mechanisms of these structures have been identified. The NW junctions reveal large sections of zinc blende crystal structure free of extended defects, despite the high stacking fault density obtained in individual InAs nanowires. This segment of zinc blende crystal structure in the junction is associated with a crystal phase transformation involving sets of Shockley partial dislocations; the transformation takes place solely in the crystal phase. A model is developed to demonstrate that only the zinc blende phase with the same orientation as the substrate can result in monocrystalline junctions. The suitability of the junctions to be used in nanoelectronic devices is confirmed by room-temperature electrical experiments.

Ballistic Transport and Exchange Interaction in InAs Nanowire Quantum Point Contacts

One-dimensional ballistic transport is demonstrated for a high-mobility InAs nanowire device. Unlike conventional quantum point contacts (QPCs) created in a two-dimensional electron gas, the nanowire QPCs represent one-dimensional constrictions formed inside a quasi-one-dimensional conductor. For each QPC, the local subband occupation can be controlled individually between zero and up to six degenerate modes. At large out-of-plane magnetic fields Landau quantization and Zeeman splitting emerge and comprehensive voltage bias spectroscopy is performed. Confinement-induced quenching of the orbital motion gives rise to significantly modified subband-dependent Landé g factors. A pronounced g factor enhancement related to Coulomb exchange interaction is reported. Many-body effects of that kind also manifest in the observation of the 0.7·2e(2)/h conductance anomaly, commonly found in planar devices.

Adiabatic Edge Channel Transport in a Nanowire Quantum Point Contact Register

We report on a prototype device geometry where a number of quantum point contacts are connected in series in a single quasi-ballistic InAs nanowire. At finite magnetic field the backscattering length is increased up to the micron-scale and the quantum point contacts are connected adiabatically. Hence, several input gates can control the outcome of a ballistic logic operation. The absence of backscattering is explained in terms of selective population of spatially separated edge channels. Evidence is provided by regular Aharonov-Bohm-type conductance oscillations in transverse magnetic fields, in agreement with magnetoconductance calculations. The observation of the Shubnikov-de Haas effect at large magnetic fields corroborates the existence of spatially separated edge channels and provides a new means for nanowire characterization.

Weak (anti)localization in tubular semiconductor nanowires with spin-orbit coupling

We compute analytically the weak (anti)localization correction to the Drude conductivity for electrons in tubular semiconductor systems of zinc-blende type. We include linear Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and compare wires of standard growth directions ⟨100⟩,⟨111⟩, and ⟨110⟩. The motion on the quasi-two-dimensional surface is considered diffusive in both directions: transversal as well as along the cylinder axis. It is shown that Dresselhaus and Rashba SOC similarly affect the spin relaxation rates. For the ⟨110⟩ growth direction, the long-lived spin states are of helical nature. We detect a crossover from weak localization to weak antilocalization depending on spin-orbit coupling strength as well as dephasing and scattering rate. The theory is fitted to experimental data of an undoped ⟨111⟩ InAs nanowire device which exhibits a top-gate-controlled crossover from positive to negative magnetoconductivity. Thereby, we extract transport parameters where we quantify the distinct types of SOC individually.

Magnetoconductance correction in zinc-blende semiconductor nanowires with spin-orbit coupling

We study the effects of spin-orbit coupling on the magnetoconductivity in diffusive cylindrical semiconductor nanowires. Following up on our former study on tubular semiconductor nanowires, we focus in this paper on nanowire systems where no surface accumulation layer is formed but instead the electron wave function extends over the entire cross section. We take into account the Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling resulting from a zinc-blende lattice and the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, which is controlled by a lateral gate electrode. The spin relaxation rate due to Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling is found to depend neither on the spin density component nor on the wire growth direction and is unaffected by the radial boundary. In contrast, the Rashba spin relaxation rate is strongly reduced for a wire radius that is smaller than the spin precession length. The derived model is fitted to the data of magnetoconductance measurements of a heavily doped back-gated InAs nanowire and transport parameters are extracted. At last, we compare our results to previous theoretical and experimental studies and discuss the occurring discrepancies.

Impact of tunnel barrier strength on magnetoresistance in carbon nanotubes

We investigate magnetoresistance in spin valves involving CoPd-contacted carbon nanotubes. Both temperature and bias voltage dependence clearly indicate tunneling magnetoresistance as the origin. We show that this effect is significantly affected by the tunnel barrier strength, which appears to be one reason for the variation between devices previously detected in similar structures. Modeling the data by means of the scattering matrix approach, we find a non-trivial dependence of the magnetoresistance on the barrier strength. Furthermore, analysis of the spin precession observed in a nonlocal Hanle measurement yields a spin lifetime of

Ballistic and spin transport in InAs nanowires

\tau_s = 1.1\,