Spontaneous spin polarization in quantum point contacts

  • 16 September 2005
Abstract
Mesoscopic systems exhibit a range of non-trivial spin-related phenomena in the low density regime, where inter-particle Coulomb interactions become comparable to their kinetic energy. In zero-dimensional systems spontaneous polarization of a few-electron quantum dot leads to a spin blockade, a remarkable effect where mismatch of a single spin blocks macroscopic current flow. In a two-dimensional hole gas there is experimental evidence of a finite spin polarization even in the absence of a magnetic field. In one-dimensional systems -- quantum wires and quantum point contacts -- a puzzling so-called ``0.7 structure'' has been observed below the first quantization plateau. Experiments suggest that an extra plateau in the conductance vs gate voltage characteristic at 0.7 2e^2/h is spin related, however, the origin of the phenomenon is not yet understood and is highly debated. In this paper we report direct measurements of finite polarization of holes in a quantum point contact (QPC) at conductances G<2e^2/h. We incorporated QPC into a magnetic focusing device so that polarization can be measured directly using a recently developed spacial spin separation technique.