By taking into account both Zeeman interaction (ZI) and spin-orbit coupling (SOC), we theoretically explore dwell time for electrons in single ferromagnetic-stripe device (SFSD), which can be experimentally fabricated by depositing a nanowide ferromagnetic stripe on the top of the GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs heterostructure. When only Zeeman interaction is involved, dwell time of electrons is independent of the spins owing to an intrinsic symmetry in the SFSD device. However, the symmetry is broken by SOCs, thereby leading to spin-dependent dwell time in the SFSD device. This allows for the separation of electron spins in time dimension and the generation of spin polarization effect in semiconductors. Spin polarization ratio can be tuned by interfacial confining electric-field or strain engineering, attributing to the SOC-dependent effective potential experienced by electrons in the SFSD device. These findings not only deepen the understanding of the mechanism of spin separation in time domain, but also provide an SFSD-based excellent temporal electron-spin splitter for semiconductor spintronics device applications.
Kong et al. (Fri,) studied this question.