Low field phase diagram of spin-Hall effect in the mesoscopic regime

When a mesoscopic two dimensional four-terminal Hall cross-bar with Rashba and/or Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction (SOI) is subjected to a perpendicular uniform magnetic field $B$, both integer quantum Hall effect (IQHE) and mesoscopic spin-Hall effect (MSHE) may exist when disorder strength $W$ in the sample is weak. We have calculated the low field "phase diagram" of MSHE in the $(B,W)$ plane for disordered samples in the IQHE regime. For weak disorder, MSHE conductance $G_{sH}$ and its fluctuations $rms(G_{SH})$ vanish identically on even numbered IQHE plateaus, they have finite values on those odd numbered plateaus induced by SOI, and they have values $G_{SH}=1/2$ and $rms(G_{SH})=0$ on those odd numbered plateaus induced by Zeeman energy. For moderate disorder, the system crosses over into a regime where both $G_{sH}$ and $rms(G_{SH})$ are finite. A larger disorder drives the system into a chaotic regime where $G_{sH}=0$ while $rms(G_{SH})$ is finite. Finally at large disorder both $G_{sH}$ and $rms(G_{SH})$ vanish. We present the physics behind this ``phase diagram".Comment: 4 page, 3 figure

Universal spin-Hall conductance fluctuations in two dimensions

We report a theoretical investigation on spin-Hall conductance fluctuation of disordered four terminal devices in the presence of Rashba or/and Dresselhaus spin-orbital interactions in two dimensions. As a function of disorder, the spin-Hall conductance $G_{sH}$ shows ballistic, diffusive and insulating transport regimes. For given spin-orbit interactions, a universal spin-Hall conductance fluctuation (USCF) is found in the diffusive regime. The value of the USCF depends on the spin-orbit coupling $t_{so}$, but is independent of other system parameters. It is also independent of whether Rashba or Dresselhaus or both spin-orbital interactions are present. When $t_{so}$ is comparable to the hopping energy $t$, the USCF is a universal number $\sim 0.18 e/4\pi$. The distribution of $G_{sH}$ crosses over from a Gaussian distribution in the metallic regime to a non-Gaussian distribution in the insulating regime as the disorder strength is increased.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev. Lett., 4 figure

Universal quantized spin-Hall conductance fluctuation in graphene

We report a theoretical investigation of quantized spin-Hall conductance fluctuation of graphene devices in the diffusive regime. Two graphene models that exhibit quantized spin-Hall effect (QSHE) are analyzed. Model-I is with unitary symmetry under an external magnetic field $B\ne 0$ but with zero spin-orbit interaction, $t_{SO}=0$. Model-II is with symplectic symmetry where B=0 but $t_{SO} \ne 0$. Extensive numerical calculations indicate that the two models have exactly the same universal QSHE conductance fluctuation value $0.285 e/4\pi$ regardless of the symmetry. Qualitatively different from the conventional charge and spin universal conductance distributions, in the presence of edge states the spin-Hall conductance shows an one-sided log-normal distribution rather than a Gaussian distribution. Our results strongly suggest that the quantized spin-Hall conductance fluctuation belongs to a new universality class