Spin Accumulation and Spin Relaxation in a Large Open Quantum Dot

Abstract

We report electronic control and measurement of an imbalance between spin-up and spin-down electrons in micron-scale open quantum dots. Spin injection and detection were achieved with quantum point contacts tuned to have spin-selective transport, with four contacts per dot for realizing a nonlocal spin-valve circuit. This provides an interesting system for studies of spintronic effects since the contacts to reservoirs can be controlled and characterized with high accuracy. We show how this can be used to extract in a single measurement the relaxation time for electron spins inside a ballistic dot (tau(sf) approximately equal to 300 ps) and the degree of spin polarization of the contacts (P approximately equal to 0.8).