Open Collections

Abstract

Diluted magnetic semiconductors in their paramagnetic phase exhibit a giant Zeeman response. This effect can be used in conjunction with external inhomogeneous magnetic fields to engineer spin-polarized charge-carrier eigenstates with certain desirable features. In this thesis, we solve Schrodinger’s equation numerically and examine the charge-carrier wavefunctions in DMS waveguides in the presence of a highly inhomogeneous external magnetic field from an infinitely long rectangular nanomagnet. The low-energy eigenstates are found and their dependence on various parameters, such as size of the nanomagnet, thickness of the DMS waveguide, strength of coupling between the charge-carriers and the magnetic spins in the semiconductor, and addition of other external magnetic fields, is characterized. This geometry is shown to be ideal for creating spin-polarized currents under the nanomagnet’s edges.