Self-induced spin-polarized carrier source in active photonic device with artificial optical chirality

Abstract

We demonstrate a scheme of active photonic devices which can spontaneously polarize the carrier spin in active regions. Rather than externally breaking the time-reversal symmetry of carrier spin states such as applying magnetic fields, only the optical chirality is required in this setup. Spin-polarized carriers are generated by interactions between carriers and self-initiated circularly polarized photons without the spin-selective optical pumping/electrical injection and breaking of the reciprocity. The device requires a cavity which supports modes with only one circular polarization and can be implemented with the vertical-cavity type of arrangements for distributed Bragg reflectors and artificial chiral photonic structures. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4765082]