Perpendicular hot electron transport in the spin-valve photodiode

The spin-valve photodiode is a ferromagnetic metal multilayer/ n -type semiconductor Schottky device operated by photoexciting hot electrons in the metal and causing internal photoemission (IPE) into the semiconductor. Simple IPE theory predicts that the magnitude of the spin-valve effect (modulation of the photocurrent) should monotonically increase as a metallic capping layer thickness increases. Experimentally, however, we observe a nonmonotonic behavior with cap layer thickness, where the magnetocurrent reaches an optimum value and then decreases. The disagreement between this experimental result and the previous theoretical model is discussed, leading to an alternative interpretation of transport including reflection from the air-metal interface. Calculations with this model are consistent with the observed phenomena.