English

Topological spin-Hall current in waveguided zinc-blende semiconductors with Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2009-09-25 v2

Abstract

We describe an intrinsic spin-Hall effect in nn-type bulk zinc-blende semiconductors with topological origin. When electron transport is confined to a waveguide structure, and the applied electric field is such that the spins of electrons remain as eigenstates of the Dresselhaus spin-orbit field with negligible subband mixing, a gauge structure appears in the momentum space of the system. In particular, the momentum space exhibits a non-trivial Berry curvature which affects the transverse motion of electrons anisotropically in spin, thereby producing a finite spin-Hall effect. The effect should be detectable using standard techniques in the literature such as Kerr rotation, and be readily distinguishable from other mechanisms of the spin-Hall effect.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0709.0609,
  title  = {Topological spin-Hall current in waveguided zinc-blende semiconductors with Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling},
  author = {T. Fujita and M. B. A. Jalil and S. G. Tan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0709.0609},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

6 pages, 3 figures