Theory of transport through noncollinear single-electron spin-valve transistors

Abstract

We study the electronic transport through a noncollinear single-electron spin-valve transistor. It consists of a small metallic island weakly coupled to two ferromagnetic leads with noncollinear magnetization directions. The electric current is influenced by Coulomb charging and by spin accumulation. Furthermore, the interplay of Coulomb interaction and tunnel coupling to spin-polarized leads yields a many-body exchange field in which the accumulated island spin precesses. We analyze the effects of this exchange field in both the linear and nonlinear transport regime. In particular, we find that the exchange field can give rise to a high sensitivity of the island's spin orientation on the gate voltage.