Resistance asymmetry of a two-dimensional electron gas caused by an effective spin injection

Abstract

We have performed conductivity measurements on a Si-MOSFET sample with a slot in the upper gate, allowing for different electron densities n_1 and n_2 across the slot. Dynamic longitudinal resistance was measured by a standard lock-in technique, while maintaining a large DC current through the source-drain channel. We find that in a parallel magnetic field, the resistance of the sample, R(I_DC), is asymmetric with respect to the direction of the DC current. The asymmetry becomes stronger with an increase of either the magnetic field or the difference between n_1 and n_2. These observations are interpreted in terms of the effective spin injection: the degree of spin polarisation is different in the two parts of the sample, implying different magnitudes of spin current away from the slot. The carriers thus leave the excess spin (of the appropriate sign) in the region around the slot, leading to spin accumulation (or depletion) and to the spin drift-diffusion phenomena. Due to the positive magnetoresistance of the two-dimensional electron gas, this change in a local magnetisation affects the resistivity near the slot and the measured net resistance, giving rise to an asymmetric contribution. We further observe that the value of R(I_DC) saturates at large I_DC; we suggest that this is due to electron tunnelling from the two-dimensional n-type layer into the p-type silicon (or into another "spin reservoir") at the slot.