Spintronics represents a new paradigm of microelectronics, which harnesses the spin of electrons in addition to or instead of their charge. Semiconductor spintronics holds the promise of overcoming several fundamental limitations of traditional microelectronics. We fabricate nano devices based on epitaxial heterostructures of the persistent photoconductor AlGaAs and Si nanowires with pronounced axial doping gradient. The measurements are performed via electronic spin injection and nonlocal spin detection, and the chosen materials allow for targeted studies of spin transport and spin coherence with varying material parameters in one and the same devices. The unique insights gleaned from these studies can provide useful design guidelines for semiconductor spintronics devices.

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