Theory of coupled spin-charge transport due to spin-orbit interaction in inhomogeneous two-dimensional electron liquids

Shen, Ka; Raimondi, Roberto; Vignale, Giovanni

doi:10.1103/physrevb.90.245302

Cited by 54 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…The interplay of intrinsic and extrinsic SOC was investigated previously in [42,48,52,57]. According to the analysis therein Eq.…”

Section: The Effects Of Extrinsic Socmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the key mechanism of the effect relies on the symmetry properties of gyrotropic media [63], most of the recent theoretical work has concentrated on models based on the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling (respectively RSOC and DSOC in the following) in the presence of disorder scattering responsible for spin relaxation [15,[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. In a 2-dimensional electron gas, as for instance the one studied in Ref.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theory of current-induced spin polarization in an electron gas

et al. 2017

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We derive the Bloch equations for the spin dynamics of a two-dimensional electron gas in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. For the latter we consider both the intrinsic mechanisms of structure inversion asymmetry (Rashba) and bulk inversion asymmetry (Dresselhaus), and the extrinsic ones arising from the scattering from impurities. The derivation is based on the SU(2) gauge-field formulation of the Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. Our main result is the identification of a spin-generation torque arising from Elliot-Yafet scattering, which opposes a similar term arising from Dyakonov-Perel relaxation. Such a torque, which to the best of our knowledge has gone unnoticed so far, is of basic nature, i. e. should be effective whenever Elliott-Yafet processes are present in a system with intrinsic spin-orbit coupling, irrespective of further specific details. The spin-generation torque contributes to the current-induced spin polarization (CISP), also known as inverse spin-galvanic or Edelstein effect. As a result, the behavior of the CISP turns out to be more complex than one would surmise from consideration of the internal Rashba-Dresselhaus fields alone. In particular, the symmetry of the current-induced spin polarization does not necessarily coincide with that of the internal Rashba-Dresselhaus field, and an out-of-plane component of the CISP is generally predicted, as observed in recent experiments. We also discuss the extension to the three-dimensional electron gas, which may be relevant for the interpretation of experiments in thin films.

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“…The interplay of intrinsic and extrinsic SOC was investigated previously in [42,48,52,57]. According to the analysis therein Eq.…”

Section: The Effects Of Extrinsic Socmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theory of current-induced spin polarization in an electron gas

et al. 2017

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“…magnetization) by passing a charge current through a material. So far, the mechanism that has been identified as the cause of CISP is the Edelstein effect [41][42][43] , in which a charge current J is first converted into a spin current J via the SHE, and J is then converted into spin polarization, M, by Rashba SOC 44 . However, as we show below, in graphene doped with SOC impurities, CISP arises from both an extrinsic version of the Edelstein effect and ASP scattering; and the latter is dominant when the Rashba SOC induced by the impurities is strong.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct coupling between charge current and spin polarization by extrinsic mechanisms in graphene

2016

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Spintronics-the all-electrical control of the electron spin for quantum or classical information storage and processing-is one of the most promising applications of the two-dimensional material graphene. Although pristine graphene has negligible spin-orbit coupling (SOC), both theory and experiment suggest that SOC in graphene can be enhanced by extrinsic means, such as functionalization by adatom impurities. We present a theory of transport in graphene that accounts for the spin-coherent dynamics of the carriers, including hitherto-neglected spin precession processes taking place during resonant scattering in the dilute impurity limit. We uncover a novel "anisotropic spin precession" (ASP) scattering process in graphene, which contributes a large current-induced spin polarization and modifies the standard spin Hall effect. ASP scattering arises from two dimensionality and extrinsic SOC, and apart from graphene, it can be present in other 2D materials or in the surface states of 3D materials with a fluctuating SOC. Our theory also yields a comprehensive description of the spin relaxation mechanisms present in adatom-decorated graphene, including Elliot-Yafet and D'yakonov-Perel relaxation rates, the latter of which can become an amplification process in a certain parameter regime of the SOC disorder potential. Our work provides theoretical foundations for designing future graphene-based integrated spintronic devices.

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“…The self-energy is diagonal in momentum space and has two contributions due to the spin independent and spin dependent scattering [31,39] …”

Section: Linear Response Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, when both RSOC and DSOC are present, symmetry arguments again indicate that Υ x and Υ y are not simply proportional to σ x and σ y , but acquire both σ x and σ y components. By following the standard procedure [39], after projecting over the Pauli matrix components, the vertex equation reads…”

Section: Linear Response Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Inverse Spin Galvanic Effect in the Presence of Impurity Spin-Orbit Scattering: A Diagrammatic Approach

Sheikhabadi

Raimondi

2017

Condensed Matter

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Spin-charge interconversion is currently the focus of intensive experimental and theoretical research both for its intrinsic interest and for its potential exploitation in the realization of new spintronic functionalities. Spin-orbit coupling is one of the key microscopic mechanisms to couple charge currents and spin polarizations. The Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a two-dimensional electron gas has been shown to give rise to the inverse spin galvanic effect, i.e., the generation of a non-equilibrium spin polarization by a charge current. Whereas the Rashba model may be applied to the interpretation of experimental results in many cases, in general, in a given real physical system, spin-orbit coupling also occurs due to other mechanisms such as Dresselhaus bulk inversion asymmetry and scattering from impurities. In this work, we consider the inverse spin galvanic effect in the presence of Rashba, Dresselhaus and impurity spin-orbit scattering. We find that the size and form of the inverse spin galvanic effect is greatly modified by the presence of the various sources of spin-orbit coupling. Indeed, spin-orbit coupling affects the spin relaxation time by adding the Elliott-Yafet mechanism to the Dyakonov-Perel, and, furthermore, it changes the non-equilibrium value of the current-induced spin polarization by introducing a new spin generation torque. We use a diagrammatic Kubo formula approach to evaluate the spin polarization-charge current response function. We finally comment about the relevance of our results for the interpretation of experimental results.

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Theory of coupled spin-charge transport due to spin-orbit interaction in inhomogeneous two-dimensional electron liquids

Cited by 54 publications

References 80 publications

Theory of current-induced spin polarization in an electron gas

Theory of current-induced spin polarization in an electron gas

Direct coupling between charge current and spin polarization by extrinsic mechanisms in graphene

Inverse Spin Galvanic Effect in the Presence of Impurity Spin-Orbit Scattering: A Diagrammatic Approach

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