Spin-Polarized Bipolar Transport and Its Applications

In spin-polarized bipolar transport both electrons and holes in doped semiconductors contribute to spin–charge coupling. The current conversion between the minority (as referred to carriers and not spin) and majority carriers leads to novel spintronic schemes if nonequilibrium spin is present. Most striking phenomena occur inhomogeneously doped magnetic p–n junctions, where the presence of nonequilibrium spin at the depletion layer leads to the spin-voltaic effect: Electric current flows without external bias, powered only by spin. The spin-voltaic effect manifests itself in giant magnetoresistance of magnetic p–n junctions, where the relative change of the magnitude of electric current upon reversing magnetic field can be more than 1000%. The paper reviews nonmagnetic and magnetic spin-polarized p–n junctions, formulates the essentials of spin-polarized bipolar transport as carrier recombination and spin relaxation limited drift and diffusion, and discusses specific device schemes of spin-polarized solar cells and magnetic diodes.