Laser threshold reduction in a spintronic device

We demonstrate a reduction of the threshold of a semiconductor laser by optically pumping spin-polarized electrons in the gain medium. Polarized electrons couple selectively to one of two possible lasing light modes which effectively reduces the threshold by up to 50% compared to conventional pumping with unpolarized electrons. We theoretically show that our concept can be generalized to an electrically pumped laser. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.