Room temperature single GaN nanowire spin valves with FeCo/MgO tunnel contacts

We report the direct measurement of spin transport characteristics in a GaN spin valve, with a relatively defect-free single GaN nanowire (NW) as the channel and FeCo/MgO as the tunnel barrier spin contact. Hanle spin precession and non-local transport measurements are made in an unintentionally doped nanowire spin valves. Spin diffusion length and spin lifetime values of 260 nm and 100 ps, respectively, are derived. Appropriate control measurements have been made to verify spin injection, transport, and detection. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4711850]