Towards fully electron and photon spin-polarized III-V nanostructures for room-temperature opto-spintronics

We will conduct in-depth experimental studies of our recently-proposed unconventional defect-enabled spin functionalities in Ga(In)NAs/In(Ga)As/GaAs semiconductor nanostructures, and will explore them for opto-spintronic applications at room temperature (RT).

We aim: (i) to understand spin physics underpinning the remote spin-filtering processes and to rationally tailor physical and material parameters to enable efficient RT spin generation (year 1-3); (ii) to uncover new spin effects facilitated by the remote spin-filtering effect, such as spin nonlinearity and nuclear spin memory (year 2-4); (iii) to implement the remote spin-filtering functionality in highly-efficient spin light-emitting devices and quantum spin-photon interfaces at RT (year 3-4).

The proposed magneto-optical and spin-resonance spectroscopic studies will be carried out in our group, and materials and prototype device structures will be fabricated by modern epitaxial and processing techniques in collaboration with our scientific partners worldwide.

If successful, this project could potentially lead to breakthroughs in finding viable solutions to efficient RT spin generation and spin manipulation in opto-spintronic nanostructures based on the mature GaAs technology platform widely used today.

This would overcome a major obstacle that have for many years hindered the progress of the spintronics research field, thereby paving the way for practical applications of semiconductor spintronics and spin-photonics.