Nonmonotonic Bias Voltage Dependence of the Magnetocurrent in GaAs-Based Magnetic Tunnel Transistors

Magnetic tunnel transistors are used to study spin-dependent hot electron transport in thin CoFe films and across CoFe/GaAs interfaces. The magnetocurrent observed when the orientation of a CoFe base layer moment is reversed relative to that of a CoFe emitter, is found to exhibit a pronounced nonmonotonic variation with electron energy. A model based on spin-dependent inelastic scattering in the CoFe base layer and strong electron scattering at the CoFe/GaAs interface, resulting in a broad electron angular distribution, can well account for the variation of the magnetocurrent in magnetic tunnel transistors with GaAs(001) and GaAs(111) collectors. © 2003 The American Physical Society.