Electromotive Force Generated by Spin Accumulation in FM/$n$-GaAs Heterostructures

Chad C. Geppert, Lee R. Wienkes, Kevin D. Christie, Sahil J. Patel, Chris J. Palmstrøm, Paul A. Crowell

Published 2014-02-11Version 1

We report on a method of quantifying spin accumulation in Co$_{2}$MnSi/$n$-GaAs and Fe/$n$-GaAs heterostructures using a non-magnetic probe. In the presence of a large non-equilibrium spin polarization, the combination of a non-constant density of states and energy-dependent conductivity generates an electromotive force (EMF). We demonstrate that this signal dephases in the presence of applied and hyperfine fields, scales quadratically with the polarization, and is comparable in magnitude to the spin-splitting. Since this spin-generated EMF depends only on experimentally accessible parameters of the bulk material, its magnitude may be used to quantify the injected spin polarization in absolute terms.