Distinguishing the inverse spin Hall effect photocurrent of electrons and holes by comparing to the classical Hall effect

The photo-excited electrons and holes move in the same direction in the diffusion and in the opposite direction in the drift under an electric field. Therefore, the contribution to the inverse spin Hall current of photo-excited electrons and holes in the diffusion regime is different to that in the drift regime under electric field. By comparing the classical Hall effect with the inverse spin Hall effect in both diffusion and drift regime, we develop an optical method to distinguish the contributions of electrons and holes in the inverse spin Hall effect. It is found that the contribution of the inverse spin Hall effect of electrons and holes in an InGaAs/AlGaAs un-doped multiple quantum well is approximately equal at room temperature. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement