Charge and spin current oscillations in a tunnel junction induced by magnetic field pulses

Usually, charge and spin transport properties in tunnel junctions are studied in the DC bias regime and/or in the adiabatic regime of time-varying magnetic fields. In this letter, the temporal dynamics of charge and spin currents in a tunnel junction induced by pulsed magnetic fields is considered. At low bias voltages, energy and momentum of the conduction electrons are nearly conserved in the tunneling process, leading to the description of the junction as a spin-1/2 fermionic system coupled to time-varying magnetic fields. Under the influence of pulsed magnetic fields, charge and spin current can flow across the tunnel junction, displaying oscillatory behavior, even in the absence of DC bias voltage. A type of spin capacitance function, in close analogy to electric capacitance, is predicted.