Spin-polarized transport in a two-dimensional electron gas with interdigital-ferromagnetic contacts

Ferromagnetic contacts on a high-mobility, two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a narrow gap semiconductor with strong spin-orbit interaction are used to investigate spin-polarized electron transport. We demonstrate the use of magnetized contacts to preferentially inject and detect specific spin orientations. Spin dephasing and spin precession effects are studied by temperature and 2DEG channel length dependent measurements. Interdigital-ferromagnetic contacts suppress unwanted effects due to ferromagnetic microstrip inhomogeneities by averaging.