Spin-selective localization due to intrinsic spin-orbit coupling

Abstract

We study spin-dependent diffusive transport in the presence of a tunable spin-orbit (SO) interaction in a two-dimensional electron system. The spin precession of an electron in the SO coupling field is expressed in terms of a covariant curvature, affecting the quantum interference between different electronic trajectories. Controlling this curvature field by modulating the SO coupling strength and its gradients by, e.g., electric or elastic means, opens intriguing possibilities for exploring spinselective localization physics. In particular, applying a weak magnetic field allows the control of the electron localization independently for two spin directions, with the spin-quantization axis that could be "engineered" by appropriate SO interaction gradients.

On-Demand Spin–Orbit Interaction from Which-Layer Tunability in Bilayer Graphene

“…For simplicity, we neglect the terms associated with v 3 and v 4 and consider the case with no intrinsic sublattice asymmetry so that ǫ αi = ǫ i with U = ǫ 2 − ǫ 1 . We use this simplified form of H BLG in H eff defined by eq (6) in the main text.…”

“…We propose graphene multilayers as a vehicle to achieve an on-demand SOI that is free from these limitations. The first step involves engineering an environment with a spatially inhomogeneous spin-orbit field [6,7], which is e.g. high on one layer and low on the adjacent layer.…”

Nonlinear spin-charge dynamics in a driven double quantum dot

“…This effect, studied experimentally and theoretically (see, for example 11,12,13 ) is important, especially when it is accumulated at long times leading to qualitatively new transport phenomena or transitions of the system to well-separated final states. The feedback SO coupling effect in the electron weak localization was considered in 14,15 . Relaxation of spin states due to the coupling to the environment 16,17 strongly limits the abilities to initialize, keep, and manipulate the desired spin states.…”

Quantum phase coherence in non-Markovian and reaction-diffusive transport

“…Following its early development, there has been much progress in understanding how the quantum phase coherence is affected by fundamental processes such as extrinsic and intrinsic spin-orbit interactions, spin-flip scattering, electron-phonon interactions, magnetic fields, Nyquist noise etc.... [4] These earlier cases demonstrated a renormalization of the diffusion constant, which can be realized in important phenomena such as anomalous magneto-conductance, anti-localization and spinselective localization [2,5,6]. However the existing theoretical studies have not successfully addressed the consequences of non-equilibrium conditions, strong interaction ground states or non-Markovian processes.…”