Current through a combined magnetostatic and electrostatic barrier system

A device is proposed where a gated ferromagnetic strip is placed on top of a semiconductor heterostructure to form a combined magnetostatic and electr ostatic barrier. On the basis of a simple model which is of the Landauer-Bu ttiker type, the current-voltage characteristics are studied, and it is sho wn that the electron motion can be tuned between three different regimes: q uasiclassical behavior, usual barrier tunneling, and resonant tunneling. [S 0163-1829(99)01728-2].