Interplay between friction and spin-orbit coupling as a source of spin polarization

Abstract

We study an effective one-dimensional quantum model that includes friction and spin-orbit coupling (SOC), and show that the model exhibits spin polarization when both terms are finite. Most important, strong spin polarization can be observed even for moderate SOC, provided that friction is strong. Our findings might help to explain the pronounced effect of chirality on spin distribution and transport in chiral molecules. In particular, our model implies static magnetic properties of a chiral molecule, which lead to Shiba-like states when a molecule is placed on a superconductor, in accordance with recent experimental data.

Theory of Chirality Induced Spin Selectivity: Progress and Challenges

“…A different approach to the idea of a bath has been proposed recently by Volosniev et al., who proposed that the CISS‐effect is a many‐body phenomenon that arises from a bath that manifests in the carrier dynamics as friction. [ 96 ] To illustrate their idea, they adopted a qualitative single‐channel model, in which friction enters as an effective electric field that is proportional to the product of friction constant and momentum expectation value. The latter is nonvanishing in the presence of spin‐orbit interaction and points in opposite directions for different spin orientations.…”

Unconventional Meissner screening induced by chiral molecules in a conventional superconductor

“…[12] and theoretically predicted in Ref. [18], is at the heart of the theoretical model and corresponding analytical expressions used for the global fit presented below. To directly validate the spin activity of the SAM of ChMs, we performed two different experiments based on LE-μSR.…”

Charge and Spin Dynamics and Enantioselectivity in Chiral Molecules

“…For more than two decades, we have learned that electron spin selective processes are intimately associated with chirality. , The effect can be partly understood as emerging from a combination of structural chirality, spin–orbit interactions, and non-equilibrium conditions. − Despite the existence of non-equilibrium conditions, which define the measurements, for instance, light exposure, ,,− local probing techniques, − transport, ,, and different types of Hall measurements, ,,− many theoretical accounts of the effect are based on the transmission properties of chiral molecules embedded in a given environment. − ,− ,− ,, While the transmission pertains to the linear response regime, hence, the ground state properties of the molecule, it is also often typically the result of a single-particle description that under stationary conditions cannot account for the excited state properties that underlie spin selectivity in chiral molecules.…”

“…Recent theoretical developments very clearly point to the need to consider chiral induced spin selectivity from an excited state point of view, ,− ,− stressing the vital role of electronic correlations. In this context, excited states refer to, e.g., virtual excitations, temporal fluctuation-induced electron dispersion within the spectrum, and thermally induced vibrational excitations of the molecule that couple to the electron and, hence, strongly modify the electronic structure.…”

“…There might, however, be other sources of excitation of the molecule. It was shown that, e.g., Coulomb ,, and electron–vibration ,,, interactions, as well as polarons, photoexcitations, time dependence, and dissipation, generate the exchange necessary to create measurable effects regarding chiral induced spin selectivity.…”