Matrix approach for modeling of emission from multilayer spin-polarized light-emitting diodes and lasers

Spin-polarized light sources such as the spin-polarized light-emitting diodes (spin-LEDs) and spin-polarized lasers (spin-lasers) are prospective devices in which the radiative recombination of spin-polarized carriers results in emission of circularly polarized photons. The main goal of this article is to model emitted radiation and its polarization properties from spin-LED and spin-controlled vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (spin-VCSEL) solid-state structures. A novel approach based on 4 × 4 transfer matrix formalism is derived for modeling of the interaction of light with matter in active media of resonant multilayer anisotropic structure and enables magneto-optical effects. Quantum transitions, which result in photon emission, are described using general Jones source vectors.