Impurity states in graphene with intrinsic spin-orbit interaction

We consider the problem of electron energy states related to strongly localized potential of a single impurity in graphene. Our model simulates the effect of impurity atom substituting the atom of carbon, on the energy spectrum of electrons near the Dirac point. We take into account the internal spin-orbit interaction, which can modify the structure of electron bands at very small neighborhood of the Dirac point, leading to the energy gap. This makes possible the occurrence of additional impurity states in the vicinity of the gap.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Enhanced photogalvanic effect in graphene due to Rashba spin-orbit coupling

We analyze theoretically optical generation of a spin-polarized charge current (photogalvanic effect) and spin polarization in graphene with Rashba spin-orbit coupling. An external magnetic field is applied in the graphene plane, which plays a crucial role in the mechanism of current generation. We predict a highly efficient resonant-like photogalvanic effect in a narrow frequency range which is determined by the magnetic field. A relatively less efficient photogalvanic effect appears in a broader frequency range, determined by the electron concentration and spin-orbit coupling strength

Thermally-induced spin polarization of a two dimensional electron gas

Spin polarization of a two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit interaction, induced by a thermo-current, is considered theoretically. It is shown that a temperature gradient gives rise to an in-plane spin polarization of the electron gas, which is normal to the temperature gradient. The low-temperature spin polarization changes sign when the Fermi level crosses bottom edge of the upper electronic subband. We also compare the results with spin polarization induced by an external electric field (current).Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Robust to impurity-scattering spin Hall effect in two-dimensional electron gas

We propose a mechanism of spin Hall effect in two-dimensional electron gas with spatially random Rashba spin-orbit interaction. The calculations based on the Kubo formalism and kinetic equation show that in contrast to the constant spin-orbit coupling, spin Hall conductivity in the random spin-orbit field is not totally suppressed by the potential impurity scattering. Even if the regular contribution is removed by the vertex corrections, the terms we consider, remain. Therefore, the intrinsic spin-Hall effect exists being, however, non-universal.Comment: 4+ pages, 2 figure

Topological insulator and quantum memory

Measurements done on the quantum systems are too specific. Contrary to their classical counterparts, quantum measurements can be invasive and destroy the state of interest. Besides, quantumness limits the accuracy of measurements done on quantum systems. Uncertainty relations define the universal accuracy limit of the quantum measurements. Relatively recently, it was discovered that quantum correlations and quantum memory might reduce the uncertainty of quantum measurements. In the present work, we study two different types of measurements done on the topological system. Namely, we discuss measurements done on the spin operators and the canonical pair of operators: momentum and coordinate. We quantify the spin operator's measurements through the entropic measures of uncertainty and exploit the concept of quantum memory. While for the momentum and coordinate operators, we exploit the improved uncertainty relations. We discovered that quantum memory reduces the uncertainties of spin measurements. On the hand, we proved that the uncertainties in the measurements of the coordinate and momentum operators depend on the value of the momentum and are substantially enhanced at small distances between itinerant and localized electrons (the large momentum limit). We note that the topological nature of the system leads to the spin-momentum locking. The momentum of the electron depends on the spin and vice versa. Therefore, we suggest the indirect measurement scheme for the momentum and coordinate operators through the spin operator. Due to the factor of quantum memory, such indirect measurements in topological insulators have smaller uncertainties rather than direct measurements