Larmor spin precession and neutron optics

We consider the neutron-optical phenomena that emerge during the coherent interaction of a neutron with a sample when the neutron spin precesses in a magnetic field. As follows from general considerations, such an interaction gives rise to an extra precession phase, which is added to the Larmor precession phase. This phenomenon can be interpreted as a manifestation of the time delay due to a finite time of the neutron-sample interaction. The Larmor neutron spin precession with a constant frequency serves as a clock for measuring this time delay. We used such a clock to directly measure the difference between the neutron velocity in matter and its vacuum value. We also present the results of the first experiments in which Larmor clocks were used to measure the neutron tunneling time in the resonance of a quasi-bound state and the Bragg diffraction time. Prospects for further applications of the method are discussed.     

Nonlinear amplification of small spin precession using long-range dipolar interactions

In measurements of small signals using spin precession the precession angle usually grows linearly in time. We show that a dynamic instability caused by spin interactions can lead to an exponentially growing spin-precession angle, amplifying small signals and raising them above the noise level of a detection system. We demonstrate amplification by a factor of greater than 8 of a spin-precession signal due to a small magnetic field gradient in a spherical cell filled with hyperpolarized liquid 129Xe. This technique can improve the sensitivity in many measurements that are limited by the noise of the detection system, rather than the fundamental spin-projection noise.     

Spin current through a quantum dot in the presence of an oscillating magnetic field

Nonequilibrium spin transport through an interacting quantum dot is analyzed. The coherent spin oscillations in the dot provide a generating source for spin current. In the interacting regime, the Kondo effect is influenced in a significant way by the presence of the processing magnetic field. In particular, when the precession frequency is tuned to resonance between spin-up and spin-down states of the dot, Kondo singularity for each spin splits into a superposition of two resonance peaks. The Kondo-type cotunneling contribution is manifested by a large enhancement of the pumped spin current in the strong coupling low temperature regime.     

相互作用量子点系统中的场致自旋电流

从理论上研究了相互作用量子点在外部旋转磁场下的非平衡自旋输运性质，研究结果表明，量子点中的相干自旋振荡可以导致自旋电流的产生，当计入库仑关联相互作用后，近藤共振效应受外部进动磁场的影响很强，特别是当磁场的进动频率与塞曼能移满足共振条件时，每个自旋近藤峰就会劈裂为两个自旋共振峰的叠加，在低温强耦合区，这种近藤型共隧穿过程对自旋电流带来重要贡献。     

Angular dependence of shot noise in the presence of Rashba spin–orbit coupling in semiconductor spintronics junctions

We investigate spin-dependent current and shot noise, taking into account the Rashba spin–orbit coupling (RSOC) effect in double diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) barrier resonant tunneling diodes. The calculation is based on an effective mass approach. The magnetization of DMS is calculated by the mean-field approximation in low magnetic field. The spin-splitting of DMS depends on the sp–d exchange interaction. We also examine the dependence of transport properties of CdTe/CdMnTe heterostructures on applied voltage and relative angle between the magnetization of two DMS layers. It is found that the RSOC has great different influence on the transport properties of tunneling electrons with spin-up and spin-down, which have different contributions to the current and the shot noise. Also, we can see that the RSOC enhances the spin polarization of the system, which makes the nanostructure a good candidate for new spin filter devices. Thus, these numerical results may shed light on the next applications of quantum multilayer systems and make them a good choice for future spintronics devices.     

The effect of measurement on the quantum features of a chaotic system

We investigate the quantum dynamics of a periodically kicked nonlinear spin system which exhibits regular and chaotic dynamics in the classical regime. The quantum behaviour is characterised by the evolving eigenvalue distributions for the angular momentum components and the features, including recurrences in the quantum means and the presence of quantum tunneling, are discussed. We employ the evolution operator eigenvalue distribution to prove that coherent quantum tunneling occurs between the fixed points in the regular regions of phase space. Continual quantum measurement is included in the model: the classical dynamics are unchanged but a destruction of coherences occurs in the quantum system. Recurrences in the means are destroyed and quantum tunneling is suppressed by measurement, a manifestation of the quantum Zeno effect.     

Edge spin accumulation in a ballistic regime

We consider a mesoscopic ballistic structure with Rashba spin-orbit splitting of the electron spectrum. The ballistic region is attached to the leads with a voltage applied between them. We calculate the edge spin density which appears in the presence of a charge current through the structure due to the difference in populations of electrons coming from different leads. Combined effect of the boundary scattering and spin precession leads to oscillations of the edge polarization with the envelope function decaying as a power law of the distance from the boundary. The problem is solved with the use of scattering states. The simplicity of the method allows us gain an insight into the underlying physics. We clarify the role of the unitarity of scattering for the problem of edge spin accumulation. In case of a straight boundary it leads to exact cancellation of all long-wave oscillations of the spin density. As a result, only the Friedel-like spin density oscillations with the momentum 2k _F survive. However, this appears to be rather exceptional case. In general, the smooth spin oscillations with the spin precession length recover, as it happens, e.g., for the wiggly boundary. We demonstrate also, that there is no relation between the spin current in the bulk, which is zero in the considered case, and the edge spin accumulation.     

Current correlations in quantum spin Hall insulators

We consider a four-terminal setup of a two-dimensional topological insulator (quantum spin Hall insulator) with local tunneling between the upper and lower edges. The edge modes are modeled as helical Luttinger liquids and the electron-electron interactions are taken into account exactly. Using perturbation theory in the tunneling, we derive the cumulant generating function for the interedge current. We show that different possible transport channels give rise to different signatures in the current noise and current cross correlations, which could be exploited in experiments to elucidate the interplay between electron-electron interactions and the helical nature of the edge states.     

Gate-controlled spin injection at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces

We report results of electrical spin injection at the high-mobility quasi-two-dimensional electron system (2-DES) that forms at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. In a nonlocal, three-terminal measurement geometry, we analyze the voltage variation associated with the precession of the injected spin accumulation driven by perpendicular or transverse magnetic fields (Hanle and inverted Hanle effect). The influence of bias and back-gate voltages reveals that the spin accumulation signal is amplified by resonant tunneling through localized states in the LaAlO3 strongly coupled to the 2-DES by tunneling transfer.     

Spin-torque shot noise in magnetic tunnel junctions

A spin polarized current may transfer angular momentum to a ferromagnet, resulting in a spin-torque phenomenon. At the same time the shot noise, associated with the current, leads to a nonequilibrium stochastic force acting on the ferromagnet. We derive a stochastic version of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation for a magnetization of a "free" ferromagnetic layer in contact with a "fixed" ferromagnet. We solve the corresponding Fokker-Planck equation and show that the nonequilibrium noise yields to a nonmonotonic dependence of the precession spectrum linewidth on the current.     

Spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance induced by the spin Hall effect

We demonstrate that the spin Hall effect in a thin film with strong spin-orbit scattering can excite magnetic precession in an adjacent ferromagnetic film. The flow of alternating current through a Pt/NiFe bilayer generates an oscillating transverse spin current in the Pt, and the resultant transfer of spin angular momentum to the NiFe induces ferromagnetic resonance dynamics. The Oersted field from the current also generates a ferromagnetic resonance signal but with a different symmetry. The ratio of these two signals allows a quantitative determination of the spin current and the spin Hall angle.     

Shot noises of spin and charge currents in a ferromagnet-quantum-dot-ferromagnet system

We have investigated the shot noises of charge and spin current by considering the spin polarized electron tunneling through a ferromagnet-quantum-dot-ferromagnet system. We have derived the spin polarized current noise matrix, from which we can derive general expressions of shot noises associated with charge and spin currents. The spin and charge currents are intimately related to the polarization angles, and they behave quite differently from each other. The shot noise of charge current is symmetric about the gate voltage whose structure is modified by the Zeeman field considerably. There exists oscillations in spin current shot noise in the absence of source-drain bias at zero temperature, and it is asymmetric in the positive and negative regimes of sourcedrain voltage. The shot noise of spin current behaves quite differently from the shot noise of charge current, since the spin current components I_x^s, I_y^s oscillate sinusoidally with the frequency ?_? in the ?th lead, while the I_z^s component of spin current is independent of time.     

Can a quantum nondemolition measurement improve the sensitivity of an atomic magnetometer?

We consider the limitations due to noise (e.g., quantum projection noise and photon shot-noise) on the sensitivity of an idealized atomic magnetometer that utilizes spin squeezing induced by a continuous quantum nondemolition measurement. Such a magnetometer measures spin precession of N atomic spins by detecting optical rotation of far-detuned light. We show that for very short measurement times, the optimal sensitivity scales as N(-3/4); if strongly squeezed probe light is used, the Heisenberg limit of N-1 scaling can be achieved. However, if the measurement time exceeds tau(rel)/N(1/2) in the former case, or tau(rel)/N in the latter, where tau(rel) is the spin relaxation time, the scaling becomes N(-1/2), as for a standard shot-noise-limited magnetometer.     

Electron-spin polarization in a non-magnetic heterostructure

The spin dependent electron transmission through a non-magnetic III-V semiconductor symmetric well is studied theoretically so as to investigate the output transmission current polarization at zero magnetic field. Transparency of electron transmission is calculated as a function of electron energy as well as the well width, within the one electron band approximation along with the spin-orbit interaction. Enhanced spin-polarized resonant tunneling in the heterostructure due to Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit coupling induced splitting of the resonant level is observed. We predict that a spin-polarized current spontaneously emerges in this heterostructure. This effect could be employed in the fabrication of spin filters, spin injectors and detectors based on non-magnetic semiconductors.     

Spin-current-induced classical and quantum effects in the dynamics of a mesoscopic magnet

The dynamics of a high-spin quantum system with magnetic anisotropy of the easy plane type under the action of spin-polarized current permeating this system is considered. The spin-polarized current (with electron spins polarized along the hard magnetic axis of the system) induces the reorientation of the magnetic moment of the system from the easy plane to the hard magnetic axis. Analytical expressions describing characteristics of the reorientation process in the limiting cases of strong and weak dissipation are obtained. Under strong dissipation conditions, the reorientation is shown to have a threshold character with “soft” (continuous) displacement of the magnetic moment from the easy plane. Under weak dissipation, the reorientation occurs as a discrete process, that is, is accompanied by magnetic moment jumps and hysteresis as the spin current increases and decreases. At a fairly low temperature and weak damping, quantum effects arise in the system. The spin current induces excitations quasi-anionic in character, Bloch oscillations of magnetic moment precession, and tunneling between different precession quantum modes. These quantum effects, in particular, manifest themselves in the system under consideration by magnetic moment jumps and magnetic susceptibility peaks.     

Spin transfer in magnetic tunnel junctions with hot electrons

Recent data on the bias dependence of the spin transfer effect in magnetic tunnel junctions have shown that torque remains intact at bias voltages for which the tunneling magnetoresistance has been strongly reduced. We show that the current induced excitations due to hot electrons, while reducing the magnetoresistance, enhance both the charge current and the spin transfer in magnetic tunnel junctions in such a manner that the ratio of the torque to the charge current does not significantly change.     

Controllable Spin-Polarized Transport in a Three-Terminal Model

By means of the Keldysh Green's function method, we investigate the spin-polarized electron transport in a three-terminal device, which is composed of three normal metal leads and two serially-coupled quantum dots (QDs). The Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI) is also considered in one of the QDs. We show that the spin-polarized charge current with arbitrary spin polarization can be obtained because of the quantum spin interference effect arising from the Rashba spin precession phase, and it can be modulated by the system parameters such as the applied external voltages, the RSOI strength, the QD levels, as well as the dot-lead coupling strengths. Moreover, a fully spin-polarized current or a pure spin current without any accompanying charge current can also be controlled to flow in the system. Our findings indicate that the proposed model can serve as an all-electrical spin device in spintronics field.     

Reprint of : Heat pump driven by the shot noise of a tunnel contact

We investigate a mechanism for cooling a lead based on a process that replaces hot electrons by cold ones. The central idea is that a double quantum dot with an inhomogeneous Zeeman splitting acts as energy filter for the transported electrons. The setup is such that hot electrons with spin up are removed, while cold electrons with spin down are added. The required non-equilibrium condition is provided by the capacitive coupling of one quantum dot to the shot noise of a strongly biased quantum point contact in the tunneling limit. Special attention is paid to the identification of an operating regime in which the net electrical current vanishes.     

Heat pump driven by the shot noise of a tunnel contact

We investigate a mechanism for cooling a lead based on a process that replaces hot electrons by cold ones. The central idea is that a double quantum dot with an inhomogeneous Zeeman splitting acts as energy filter for the transported electrons. The setup is such that hot electrons with spin up are removed, while cold electrons with spin down are added. The required non-equilibrium condition is provided by the capacitive coupling of one quantum dot to the shot noise of a strongly biased quantum point contact in the tunneling limit. Special attention is paid to the identification of an operating regime in which the net electrical current vanishes.     

Nonlinear dynamics of semiclassical spin in a time-dependent magnetic field

The dynamics of magnetic nanoclusters (or molecules) with a large spin in a magnetic field whose strength varies in proportion to time is analyzed. Such a field breaks the symmetry relative to rotations through 2π, as well as clockwise and counterclockwise rotations, and induces a number of new coherent quantum effects in the spin dynamics, such as the formation of a band energy spectrum with continuous spin states or the emergence of “Bloch” oscillations in spin precession and interband Zener tunneling. Bloch oscillations are manifested in experiment as equidistant identical jumps on the magnetization curve. The interband Zener tunneling gives rise to additional jumps and peaks on the susceptibility of the system.