Measurement of spin-dependent conductivities in a two-dimensional electron gas

Abstract

Spin accumulation is generated by injecting an unpolarized charge current into a channel of GaAs two-dimensional electron gas subject to an in-plane magnetic field, then measured in a nonlocal geometry. Unlike previous measurements that have used spin-polarized nanostructures, here the spin accumulation arises simply from the difference in bulk conductivities for spin-up and spin-down carriers. Comparison to a diffusive model that includes spin subband splitting in magnetic field suggests a significantly enhanced electron spin susceptibility in the two-dimensional electron gas.