26 research outputs found
Weak antilocalization in a 2D electron gas with the chiral splitting of the spectrum
Motivated by the recent observation of the metal-insulator transition in
Si-MOSFETs we consider the quantum interference correction to the conductivity
in the presence of the Rashba spin splitting. For a small splitting, a
crossover from the localizing to antilocalizing regime is obtained. The
symplectic correction is revealed in the limit of a large separation between
the chiral branches. The relevance of the chiral splitting for the 2D electron
gas in Si-MOSFETs is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, REVTeX. Mistake corrected; in the limit of a large chiral
splitting the correction to the conductivity does not vanish but approaches
the symplectic valu
Orbital mechanism of the circular photogalvanic effect in quantum wells
It is shown that the free-carrier (Drude) absorption of circularly polarized
radiation in quantum well structures leads to an electric current flow. The
photocurrent reverses its direction upon switching the light helicity. A pure
orbital mechanism of such a circular photogalvanic effect is proposed that is
based on interference of different pathways contributing to the light
absorption. Calculation shows that the magnitude of the helicity dependent
photocurrent in -doped quantum well structures corresponds to recent
experimental observations.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to be published in JETP Letter
Zero-Field Satellites of a Zero-Bias Anomaly
Spin-orbit (SO) splitting, , of the electron Fermi surface
in two-dimensional systems manifests itself in the interaction-induced
corrections to the tunneling density of states, . Namely, in
the case of a smooth disorder, it gives rise to the satellites of a zero-bias
anomaly at energies . Zeeman splitting, , in a weak parallel magnetic field causes a narrow {\em plateau} of
a width at the top of each sharp satellite peak.
As exceeds , the SO satellites cross over to the
conventional narrow maxima at with SO-induced
plateaus at the tops.Comment: 7 pages including 2 figure
Theory of Spin Injection in Two-dimensional Metals with Proximity-Induced Spin-Orbit Coupling
Spin injection is a powerful experimental probe into a wealth of nonequilibrium spin-dependent phenomena displayed by materials with spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Here, we develop a theory of coupled spin-charge diffusive transport in two-dimensional spin-valve devices. The theory describes a realistic proximity-induced SOC with both spatially uniform and random components of the SOC due to adatoms and imperfections, and applies to the two dimensional electron gases found in two-dimensional materials and van der Walls heterostructures. The various charge-to-spin conversion mechanisms known to be present in diffusive metals, including the spin Hall effect and several mechanisms contributing current-induced spin polarization are accounted for. Our analysis shows that the dominant conversion mechanisms can be discerned by analyzing the nonlocal resistance of the spin-valve for different polarizations of the injected spins and as a function of the applied in-plane magnetic field
Berry phase and adiabaticity of a spin diffusing in a non-uniform magnetic field
An electron spin moving adiabatically in a strong, spatially non-uniform
magnetic field accumulates a geometric phase or Berry phase, which might be
observable as a conductance oscillation in a mesoscopic ring. Two contradicting
theories exist for how strong the magnetic field should be to ensure
adiabaticity if the motion is diffusive. To resolve this controversy, we study
the effect of a non-uniform magnetic field on the spin polarization and on the
weak-localization effect. The diffusion equation for the Cooperon is solved
exactly. Adiabaticity requires that the spin-precession time is short compared
to the elastic scattering time - it is not sufficient that it is short compared
to the diffusion time around the ring. This strong condition severely
complicates the experimental observation.Comment: 16 pages REVTEX, including 3 figure
Conduction band spin splitting and negative magnetoresistance in heterostructures
The quantum interference corrections to the conductivity are calculated for
an electron gas in asymmetric quantum wells in a magnetic field. The theory
takes into account two different types of the spin splitting of the conduction
band: the Dresselhaus terms, both linear and cubic in the wave vector, and the
Rashba term, linear in wave vector. It is shown that the contributions of these
terms into magnetoconductivity are not additive, as it was traditionally
assumed. While the contributions of all terms of the conduction band splitting
into the D'yakonov--Perel' spin relaxation rate are additive, in the
conductivity the two linear terms cancel each other, and, when they are equal,
in the absence of the cubic terms the conduction band spin splitting does not
show up in the magnetoconductivity at all. The theory agrees very well with
experimental results and enables one to determine experimentally parameters of
the spin-orbit splitting of the conduction band.Comment: 8 pages, RevTeX, 4 Postscript figure
Hall-like effect induced by spin-orbit interaction
The effect of spin-orbit interaction on electron transport properties of a
cross-junction structure is studied. It is shown that it results in spin
polarization of left and right outgoing electron waves. Consequently, incoming
electron wave of a proper polarization induces voltage drop perpendicularly to
the direct current flow between source and drain of the considered
four-terminal cross-structure. The resulting Hall-like resistance is estimated
to be of the order of 10^-3 - 10^-2 h/e^2 for technologically available
structures. The effect becomes more pronounced in the vicinity of resonances
where Hall-like resistance changes its sign as function of the Fermi energy.Comment: 4 pages (RevTeX), 4 figures, will appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Non-Abelian Geometric Phases and Conductance of Spin-3/2 Holes
Angular momentum holes in semiconductor heterostructures are showed
to accumulate nonabelian geometric phases as a consequence of their motion. We
provide a general framework for analyzing such a system and compute conductance
oscillations for a simple ring geometry. We also analyze a figure-8 geometry
which captures intrinsically nonabelian interference effects.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (encapsulated PostScript) Replaced fig. 1 and fig.