Resonance-like electrical control of electron spin for microwave measurement

Abstract

We demonstrate that the spin-polarized electron current can interact with a microwave electric field in a resonant manner. The spin-orbit interaction gives rise to an effective magnetic field proportional to the electric current. In the presence of both dc and ac electric field components, electron spin resonance occurs if the ac frequency matches with the spin precession frequency that is controlled by the dc field. In a device consisting of two spin-polarized contacts connected by a two-dimensional channel, this mechanism allows electrically tuned detection of the ac signal frequency and amplitude. For GaAs, such detection is effective in the frequency domain around tens of gigahertz.