A bias-tunable electron-spin filter based on a hybrid ferromagnetic-Schottky-metal and semiconductor nanostructure

Recently, an electron-spin filter was proposed by depositing two ferromagnetic stripes and a Schottky normal-metal stripe on top of a heterostructure [H.Z. Xu, Q.Q. Yan, Phys. Lett. A 372 (2008) 6216]. Here, we apply a bias to this device, and find that both magnitude and sign of the electron-spin polarization are sensitive to the applied bias, which can result in a bias-tunable spin filter.