Tailoring semiconductor spintronics devices: Tools for the creation and control of spins in two-dimensional electron gases

In recent years the research field of semiconductor spintronics has attracted considerable attention. This interest was fueled by the prospect of spin-based devices, which could possess enhanced functionalities compared to conventional charge-based microelectronics. However, in order to realize the building blocks for semiconductor spintronics devices a number of fundamental obstacles have to be overcome. To this end, this thesis discusses several spin-related phenomena in two-dimensional electron gases, which can either be exploited as sources for spin currents/accumulations or which can be used for the efficient control of those spins. To be specific, it deals with coherent electron transport through wire geometries in the presence of spin-orbit interaction and/or magnetic fields. For the numerical calculations a powerful quantum transport code was used. The topics investigated in this thesis include spin ratchets, the phenomenon of current-induced spin accumulation and finally quantum interference spin phenomena in disordered systems.