Rashba spin–orbit effect on the magnetocapacitance of a 2DEG in a diluted magnetic semiconductor

We investigate the magnetocapacitance of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) embedded in diluted magnetic semiconductors in the presence of Rashba spin–orbit interaction (SOI). We present calculations on the energy spectrum and density of states and show that the tunable spin–orbit coupling and the enhanced Zeeman splitting have a strong effect on the magnetocapacitance of the structure. In the presence of Rashba SOI, a typical beating pattern with well defined node-positions in the oscillating capacitance is observed. A simple relation that predicts the positions of nodes in the beating patterns is obtained. The interplay between the total Zeeman splitting (including the s–d exchange interaction) and the Rashba SOI is discussed.     

Spin-dependent localization of electrons in low-dimensional systems

Possibilities of spatial localization of spin-polarized electrons due to spin–orbit interaction are investigated theoretically. Situations most interesting for us are the ones where electrons of one spin state (helicity) are localized while the opposite helicity relates to extended wave functions. On examples of simplest short range potentials it is shown that such spin separation is, in principle, possible. Magnetic properties of electrons bound to a shallow 2D axially symmetric well are considered. Accounting for the spin–orbit contribution results in an anomalously large effective g-factor of this system.     

Electron spin filtering in all-semiconductor tunneling structures

In this work we briefly review the present day perspectives for exploiting conventional non-magnetic semiconductor nano-technology to design high speed spin-filter devices. In recent theoretical investigations a high spin polarization has been predicted for the ballistic tunneling current in semiconductor single- and double-barrier asymmetric tunnel structures of III–V semiconductors with strong Rashba spin–orbit coupling. We show in this paper that the polarization in the tunneling can probability be sufficiently increased for producing realistic single-barrier structures by including of the Dresselhaus term into consideration.     

Ballistic spin-dependent transport of Rashba rings with multi-leads

Using the Landauer–Büttiker formula with the transfer matrix technique, we develop a formalism of the ballistic spin-dependent electron transport in the multi-lead Rashba rings. We give analytic formulas of the total conductance G_j, spin-σ conductance and spin polarization P_j of each outgoing lead j, and their resonant and antiresonant conditions. Analytic studying with numerical investigating Rashba rings with several symmetric and asymmetric leads, we find that G_j, and P_j oscillate with the incoming electron energy and the spin–orbit interaction (SOI) strength, and their antiresonances depend on the incoming electron energy, the SOI strength and the outgoing-lead angle with the incoming lead. For the symmetric-lead rings, G_j, and P_j have some symmetries, , and P_j = −P_N−j for symmetric leads, j and N − j, where the angles between the symmetric outgoing leads j and N − j and the incoming lead are γ_N−j = 2π − γ_j. The spin polarization of the outgoing lead with γ_j = π is exactly zero for even-N-symmetric-lead rings. These symmetries originate from the lead symmetry and time reversal invariance. For asymmetry-lead rings these symmetries vanish.     

Theory of electronic light scattering in lateral superlattices with Rashba spin–orbit coupling under quantizing electric and magnetic fields

The influence of an in-plane electric and out-of-plane magnetic field on the electronic light scattering is calculated for a lateral semiconductor superlattice within Rashba spin–orbit interaction. Sharp resonances are predicted to appear when the Raman shift matches one frequency of the Wannier–Stark ladder. The spin–orbit interaction gives rise to a dispersion of the exact one-particle eigenstates and an associated finite width of the Raman line, which can be tuned by the electric and magnetic field. When the Bloch frequency is located in this Raman line, a Fano resonance is observed.     

Zeeman and spin–orbit effects on the spin-Hall conductance

We show that when a two-dimensional interacting electron gas is submitted to a perpendicular magnetic field, the application of an in-plane electric field E induces a spin current perpendicular to E whose conductivity is quantized. This current can lead to spin accumulation that might be detected by means of optical experiments. The appearance of this intrinsic spin-Hall effect is crucially based on the validity of Kohn's theorem and on the presence of the Zeeman term in the electron Hamiltonian. The possibility of resonant effects in the spin-Hall conductivity due to the combined effect of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin–orbit couplings is discussed.     

A spin field effect transistor for low leakage current

In a spin field effect transistor, a magnetic field is inevitably present in the channel because of the ferromagnetic source and drain contacts. This field causes random unwanted spin precession when carriers interact with non-magnetic impurities. The randomized spins lead to a large leakage current when the transistor is in the “off”-state, resulting in significant standby power dissipation. We can counter this effect of the magnetic field by engineering the Dresselhaus spin–orbit interaction in the channel with a backgate. For realistic device parameters, a nearly perfect cancellation is possible, which should result in a low leakage current.     

Exchange-enhanced spin-splitting in a two-dimensional electron gas in the presence of the Rashba spin–orbit interaction

We present a theoretical study on how many-body effects can affect the spin-splitting of a two-dimensional electron gas in the presence of the Rashba spin–orbit interaction. The standard Hartree–Fock approximation and Green's function approach are employed to calculate the energy spectrum and density of states of a spin-split two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). We find that the presence of the exchange interaction can enhance significantly the spin-splitting of a 2DEG on top of the Rashba effect. The physical reasons behind this important phenomenon are discussed.     

Optical spin resonances due to structure and bulk inversion asymmetry in heterostructures

Optical spin–flip excitations in the conduction band of III–V semiconductor heterostructures are considered theoretically taking into account structure inversion asymmetry (SIA) and bulk inversion asymmetry (BIA) of such systems. Possible spin transitions both in the absence of a magnetic field (B=0) as well as in the presence of a magnetic field B parallel to the growth direction [0 0 1] are investigated. The theory is based on the three-level model of the narrow-gap band structure including the BIA [Phys. Rev. 100 (1955) 580] and SIA [J. Phys. C. 17 (1984) 6039] contributions. We show in particular that the SIA mechanism not only results in the Bychkov–Rashba spin splitting at B=0 but it also gives rise to the possibility of optical transitions between the two spin-split energy branches.     

Spin-dependent magnetotransport through one or more rings in the presence of the Rashba and Dresselhaus terms of the spin–orbit interaction

Magnetotransport through one or several quasi-one-dimensional rings, in the presence of the Rashba (RSOI) and Dresselhaus (DSOI) terms of the spin–orbit interaction (SOI) and of a magnetic field B, is investigated. The RSOI field and an effective DSOI field are taken as E_R=E_R(sinγ₁e_r+cosγ₁e_z) and E_D=E_D(sinγ₂e_r+cosγ₂e_z), their strengths are denoted by α and β, respectively. The exact one-electron eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are obtained and used to evaluate the transmission as a function of α, β, and of the angles γ₁,γ₂. Because the RSOI term couples the electronic orbit (along the θ direction) with the Pauli matrices σ_z and σ_r while the DSOI term couples it with σ_θ, they affect the electronic spin transport through a ring in distinctly different ways. The resulting transmission shows a considerable structure as a function of the angles γ₁ or γ₂. The same holds for the transmission, versus α or β, with the SOI present only in one arm of the ring and for that through two rings with the same or different radii. Various results of the literature, valid for β=0, are readily recovered. For weak magnetic fields the influence of the Zeeman term on the transmission, assessed by perturbation theory, is negligible.     

Spin–orbit coupling and spin transport

Recent achievements in semiconductor spintronics are discussed. Special attention is paid to spin–orbit interaction, coupling of electron spins to external electric fields, and spin transport in media with spin–orbit coupling, including the mechanisms of spin-Hall effect. Importance of spin-transport parameters at spin-precession wave vector k_so is emphasized, and existence of an universal relation between spin currents and spin accumulation at the spatial scale of is conjectured.     

Electron transport of a quantum wire with spatially periodic spin–orbit coupling

Electron transport properties of an ideal one-dimensional (1D) quantum wire are studied including spatially periodic Rashba spin–orbit coupling (SOC) and Dresselhaus SOC. By comparing with the previous work [S.J. Gong, Z.Q. Yang, J. Phys. Condens. Matter 19 (2007) 446209], two transmission gaps appear in the transmission probability of electrons and their widths are also broadened dramatically. Moreover, it is found that their widths are sensitive not only to the strength of SOCs but also to the length ratio of SOCs segment and non-SOCs segment. In addition, a ‘circle-type’ transmission behavior has been found by tuning the strength of SOCs continuously. Our results may extend the previous work and provide an more effective method to manipulate the current in nanoelectric devices.     

Classical in-plane negative magnetoresistance and quantum positive magnetoresistance in undoped InSb thin films on GaAs (1 0 0) substrates

Magnetoresistance (MR) effects have been investigated in perpendicular and parallel magnetic fields at 300, 80 K and liquid He temperatures for undoped InSb thin films 0.1–2.3 μm thick grown on GaAs(1 0 0) substrates by MBE. At high temperatures, the intrinsic carriers show the parabolic negative MR observable only in magnetic fields parallel to the film. The skipping-orbit effect due to surface boundary scattering in the classical orbits in the plane vertical to the film has been argued to be responsible for the negative MR. At low temperatures (T=80 K), the transport is dominated by the two-dimensional (2D) electrons in the accumulation layers at the InSb/GaAs(1 0 0) hetero interface; MR is positive and shows a logarithmic increase with anisotropy between parallel and perpendicular field orientation, arising from the 2D weak anti-localization (WAL) that reflects the interplay between the spin-Zeeman effect and strong spin–orbit interaction caused by the asymmetric potential at the interface (Rashba term). The zero-field spin splitting energy of Δ₀13 meV, the electron effective mass of m^*0.10m₀ seven times of the band edge mass in bulk InSb and the effective g-factor of |g^*|15 in the accumulation layer have been inferred from fits of MR for the 0.1 μm thick film to the 2D WL theory.     

Surface relaxation of polarized Xe atoms dissolved in deuterated ethanol

We measured the spin relaxation of polarized xenon atoms dissolved in deuterated ethanol. Surface relaxation was suppressed by coating the cell walls with deuterated eicosane. From the dependence of the decay rate on temperature and static magnetic field, we obtained the correlation time of random fluctuations of the local field at the liquid-solid interface. By varying the cell volume, the wall coating, and the surface area of the eicosane, we measured the contribution of the spin-rotation interaction to the relaxation. The use of both deuterated molecules enables us to distinguish surface relaxation from the magnetic dipole-dipole and spin-rotation interactions in solution.     

Spin–spin interaction in magnetic semiconductor quantum dots

Self-assembled Cd(Mn)Se/Zn(Mn)Se quantum dots have been investigated by means of spatially and time-resolved magneto-optical spectroscopy. In such quasi zero-dimensional diluted magnetic semiconductors, the exchange interaction couples the spins of optically generated charge carriers with localized magnetic ion spins. We demonstrate that this can be used on the one hand to monitor nanoscale magnetization with a resolution of <100 μ_B by a purely optical technique and on the other hand to optically manipulate the magnetization in a semiconductor quantum dot.     

Quantum transport phenomena in disordered electron systems with spin–orbit coupling in two dimensions and below

Electron transport phenomena in disordered electron systems with spin–orbit coupling in two dimensions and below are studied numerically. The scaling hypothesis is checked by analyzing the scaling of the quasi-1D localization length. A logarithmic increase of the mean conductance is also confirmed. These support the theoretical prediction that the two-dimensional metal in systems with spin–orbit coupling has a perfect conductivity. Transport through a Sierpinski carpet is also reported.     

Odd-frequency pairings in a non-centrosymmetric system

We study possible pairing symmetries of non-centrosymmetric superconductors in the Hubbard model with the Rashba-type spin–orbit interaction (RSOI). Because of the breakdown of space inversion symmetry due to RSOI, a mixture of pairing states with different symmetries can emerge. We find that the RSOI mixes not only the spin-singlet even-parity pairing and spin-triplet odd-parity pairings with even-frequency symmetry, but it also mixes the spin-singlet odd-parity pairing and spin-triplet even-parity pairings with odd-frequency symmetry.     

Dynamical effects of spin-dependent interactions in low- and intermediate-energy heavy-ion reactions

It is well known that noncentral nuclear forces, such as the spin–orbital coupling and the tensor force, play important roles in understanding many interesting features of nuclear structures. However, their dynamical effects in nuclear reactions are poorly known because only the spin-averaged observables are normally studied both experimentally and theoretically. Realizing that spin-sensitive observables in nuclear reactions may convey useful information about the in-medium properties of noncentral nuclear interactions, besides earlier studies using the time-dependent Hartree–Fock approach to understand the effects of spin–orbital coupling on the threshold energy and spin polarization in fusion reactions, some efforts have been made recently to explore the dynamical effects of noncentral nuclear forces in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions using transport models. The focus of these studies has been on investigating signatures of the density and isospin dependence of the form factor in the spin-dependent single-nucleon potential. Interestingly, some useful probes were identified in the model studies but so far there are still no data to compare with. In this brief review, we summarize the main physics motivations as well as the recent progress in understanding the spin dynamics and identifying spin-sensitive observables in heavy-ion reactions at intermediate energies. We hope the interesting, important, and new physics potentials identified in the spin dynamics of heavy-ion collisions will stimulate more experimental work in this direction.     

Tunable quantum capacitance and magnetic oscillation in bilayer graphene device

We address the quantum capacitance of a bilayer graphene device in the presence of Rashba spin–orbit interaction (SOI) by applying external magnetic fields and interlayer biases. Quantum capacitance reflects the mixing of the spin-up and spin-down states of Landau levels and can be effectively modulated by the interlayer bias. The interplay between interlayer bias and Rashba SOI strongly affects magnetic oscillations. The typical beating pattern changes tuned by Rashba SOI strength, interlayer bias energy, and temperature are examined as well.