Spintronic with semiconductors

Soon afterwards the discovery of the giant magnetoresistance in metallic multilayers, researchers have attempted to integrate spintronic properties with semiconductor materials. They came up against several difficulties related to the structural and electronic properties of the ferromagnetic metal-semiconductor interface. We will report on the recent progress made in this field of spintronic with semiconductors. First of all we will explain the interfacial resistance conditions required to inject and detect efficient spin current in a semiconductor and in a second part we will show that efficient spin injection experiments have been now achieved thanks to the addition of a tunnel resistance at the interface. We will then report on the magnetoresistance experiment performed with diluted magnetic semiconductors as ferromagnetic material. This type of material can constitute an alternative road to achieving electrical control spintronic devices. Finally, we will finish by reporting on research for a highly spin-polarized source to inject spin-polarized current in a semiconductor. It will be mainly focused on tunnel magnetoresistance junctions with semiconductor barriers and hot electron transistor. To cite this article: J.-M. George et al., C. R. Physique 6 (2005).