Generation of charge current by the Inverse Stern-Gerlach Effect and the suppression of spin transport due to spin counter-current exchange in semiconductors

Abstract

The spin-orbit interaction is frequently the mechanism by which spin and charge are coupled for spintronic applications. The discovery of spin, a century ago, relied on spin-charge coupling by a magnetic field gradient; this mechanism has received scant attention as a means for generating spin and charge currents in semiconductors. Through the derivation of a set of coupled spin-charge drift-diffusion equations, our work shows that magnetic field gradients can be used to generate charge currents from non-equilibrium spin polarization, in solid state systems. We predict, in GaAs, an ``Stern-Gerlach" voltage comparable to what is measured by the inverse spin Hall effect. Non-intuitively, we find the spin diffusion length is reduced by the magnetic gradient. This is understood by invoking the idea of co-current and counter-current exchange which is a concept frequently invoked in fields as disparate as animal physiology and thermal engineering.