Spin gunn effect

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Jan 20;96(2):026602. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.026602. Epub 2006 Jan 18.

Abstract

We predict that the flow of unpolarized current in electron-doped GaAs and InP at room temperature is unstable at high electric fields to the dynamic formation of spin-polarized current pulses. Spin-polarized current is spontaneously generated because the conductivity of a spin-polarized electron gas differs from that of an unpolarized electron gas, even in the absence of spin-orbit interaction. Magnetic fields are not required for the generation of these spin-polarized current pulses, although they can help align the polarization of sequential pulses along the same axis.