Resonant tunneling in magnetic semiconductor tunnel junctions with arbitrary magnetic alignments

Abstract Combining an extended Julliere model with transfer matrix method, we study the spin-polarized resonant tunneling in GaMnAs/AlAs/GaAs/AlAs/GaMnAs double barrier ferromagnetic semiconductor (FS) tunnel junctions with the arbitrary angle θ between the magnetic directions of two FS's. It is shown that tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio linearly varies with sin 2 ( θ / 2 ) . We also demonstrate that for the heavy and light holes, the properties of the spin-polarized resonant tunneling are obviously different. The present results are expected to be instructive for manufacturing the relevant semiconductor spintronic devices.