Effect of Rashba spin–orbit coupling on the spin-polarized transport in ferromagnet/semiconductor double tunnel junctions

Considering the Rashba spin–orbit interaction in the semiconductor, we study theoretically the spin-polarized transport in a two-dimensional ferromagnetic semiconductor double tunnel junctions by a quantum-mechanical approach. It is found that the transmission coefficient shows typical resonant transmission properties and the Rashba spin–orbit coupling has great different influences on the transmission coefficients of electrons with spin-up and down and tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR). More importantly, the TMR is significantly enhanced by increasing the spin–orbit coupling, which is very useful for the designing of magnetic digital and memory sensor.