Eur. Phys. J. B 50, 475-481 (2006)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2006-00158-1

Angular dependence of tunneling magnetoresistance in magnetic semiconductor heterostructures

¹ Department of Physics, Tehran Payame-Noor University, Fallahpour St. Nejatollahi St. Tehran, Iran
² Computational Physical Sciences Research Laboratory, Department of Nano-Science, Institute for studies in theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM) P.O. Box 19395-5531, Tehran, Iran

Corresponding author: ^a aashokri@nano.ipm.ac.ir

Received: 29 October 2005
Published online: 5 May 2006

Abstract

Theoretical studies on spin-dependent transport in magnetic tunnel heterostructures consisting of two diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) separated by a nonmagnetic semiconductor (NMS) barrier, are carried in the limit of coherent regime by including the effect of angular dependence of the magnetizations in DMS. Based on parabolic valence band effective mass approximation and spontaneous magnetization of DMS electrodes, we obtain an analytical expression of angular dependence of transmission for DMS/NMS/DMS junctions. We also examine the dependence of spin polarization and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) on barrier thickness, temperature, applied voltage and the relative angle between the magnetizations of two DMS layers in GaMnAs/GaAs/GaMnAs heterostructures. We discuss the theoretical interpretation of this variation. Our results show that TMR of more than 65% are obtained at zero temperature, when one GaAs monolayer is used as a tunnel barrier. It is also shown that the TMR decreases rapidly with increasing barrier width and applied voltage; however at high voltages and low thicknesses, the TMR first increases and then decreases. Our calculations explain the main features of the recent experimental observations and the application of the predicted results may prove useful in designing nano spin-valve devices.