Hot electrons in magnetic point contacts as a photon source

Abstract

We propose to use a point contact between a ferromagnetic and a normal metal in the presence of a magnetic field for creating a large inverted spin-population of hot electrons in the contact core. The key point of the proposal is that when these hot electrons relax by flipping their spin, microwave photons are emitted, with a frequency tunable by the applied magnetic field. While point contacts is an established technology their use as a photon source is a new and potentially very useful application. We show that this photon emission process can be detected by means of transport spectroscopy and demonstrate stimulated emission of radiation in the 10-100 GHz range for a model point contact system using a minority-spin ferromagnetic injector. These results can potentially lead to new types of lasers based on spin injection in metals.

6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in New Journal of Physics, accepted for oral presentation at OPTO SPIE Photonics West Conference, 22-27 January 2011. San Francisco, USA