Tunneling time of spin particle determined by the spin precession method in the Dresselhaus spin orbit semiconductor system

Abstract

We determine the traversal time τ of electrons through a semiconducting barrier by relating it to the precession of its spin due to Dresselhaus spin orbital effect. The precessional angle is obtained by performing a unitary transformation of the spin axis to the effective spin orbit coupling field and determining the change in phase of the transmitted wave function. The calculated τ exhibits counterintuitive trends with respect to barrier geometry and electron energy. The proposed clocking method based on the Dresselhaus effect might have practical advantages over the applied field and simplify experimental efforts to investigate electron tunneling in semiconductor materials. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.