In this review article we describe spin-dependent transport in materials with
spin–orbit interaction of Rashba type. We mainly focus on semiconductor
heterostructures, however we consider topological insulators, graphene and
hybrid structures involving superconductors as well. We start from the Rashba
Hamiltonian in a two dimensional electron gas and then describe transport
properties of two- and quasi-one-dimensional systems. The problem of spin
current generation and interference effects in mesoscopic devices is described
in detail. We address also the role of Rashba interaction on localisation
effects in lattices with nontrivial topology, as well as on the Ahronov–Casher
effect in ring structures. A brief section, in the end, describes also some
related topics including the spin-Hall effect, the transition from weak
localisation to weak anti localisation and the physics of Majorana fermions in
hybrid heterostructures involving Rashba materials in the presence of
superconductivity
