Spin polarization spectra of strained superlattices

Optical spin orientation in the strained short-period semiconductor superlattices is investigated theoretically, Strong features in the spin polarization dependence on the electron energy are identified with the Van-Hove singularities in absorption spectra. The maximum polarization values found to be in the range of 70-94% are more sensitive to the absorption edge smearing than in the case of strained layer structures. Calculated polarization spectra are close to the experimental spectra of polarized electron emission. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.