Spin accumulation in a paramagnetic semiconductor due to voltage-biased current tunneling from a polarized ferromagnet is experimentally manifest as a small additional spin-dependent resistance. We describe a rigorous model incorporating the necessar
y self-consistency between electrochemical potential splitting, spin-dependent injection current, and applied voltage that can be used to simulate this so-called 3T signal as a function of temperature, doping, ferromagnet bulk spin polarization, tunnel barrier features and conduction nonlinearity, and junction voltage bias.
We use all-electrical methods to inject, transport, and detect spin-polarized electrons vertically through a 350-micron-thick undoped single-crystal silicon wafer. Spin precession measurements in a perpendicular magnetic field at different accelerati
ng electric fields reveal high spin coherence with at least 13pi precession angles. The magnetic-field spacing of precession extrema are used to determine the injector-to-detector electron transit time. These transit time values are associated with output magnetocurrent changes (from in-plane spin-valve measurements), which are proportional to final spin polarization. Fitting the results to a simple exponential spin-decay model yields a conduction electron spin lifetime (T1) lower bound in silicon of over 500ns at 60K.
A longitudinal electric field is used to control the transit time (through an undoped silicon vertical channel) of spin-polarized electrons precessing in a perpendicular magnetic field. Since an applied voltage determines the final spin direction at
the spin detector and hence the output collector current, this comprises a spin field-effect transistor. An improved hot-electron spin injector providing ~115% magnetocurrent, corresponding to at least ~38% electron current spin polarization after transport through 10 microns undoped single-crystal silicon, is used for maximum current modulation.
