SEMINAR: Exploring Spin and charge dynamics in semiconductors with mechanical stress

Mechanical stress modifies the electronic structure of solids, and resulting variations in static properties such as charge carrier effective masses are widely exploited in modern, solid-state electronic devices. I will show that radically different electromechanical properties can be observed in the space charge limited current regime of nanoscale devices or in the sub-threshold region of transistors. In particular, stress-induced changes to the capture and emission rates of deep defect centres can result in changes to the electrical properties which are orders of magnitude larger than the usual static electronic structure effects. In addition to discussing possible practical consequences of these observations, I will outline several experiments of interest for active spintronics in which mechanical stress can be used to significantly modify either defect or free charge carrier spin dynamics. In these cases I will describe how the ability to modify spin with stress is a novel manifestation of the spin-orbit interaction