Employing unbiased large-scale time-dependent density-matrix renormalization-group simulations, we demonstrate the generation of a charge-current vortex via spin injection in the Rashba system. The spin current is polarized perpendicular to the system plane and injected from an attached antiferromagnetic spin chain. We discuss the conversion between spin and orbital angular momentum in the current vortex that occurs because of the conservation of the total angular momentum and the spin-orbit interaction. This is in contrast to the spin Hall effect, in which the angular-momentum conservation is violated. Finally, we predict the electromagnetic field that accompanies the vortex with regard to possible future experiments.
Using response theory, we calculate the charge-current vortex generated by spin pumping at a point-like contact in a system with Rashba spin-orbit coupling. We discuss the spatial profile of the current density for finite temperature and for the zero-temperature limit. The main observation is that the Rashba spin precession leads to a charge current that oscillates as a function of the distance from the spin-pumping source, which is confirmed by numerical simulations. In our calculations, we consider a Rashba model on a square lattice, for which we first review the basic properties related to …
The asymmetric spin-orbit (SO) interactions play a crucial role in realizing topological phases in noncentrosymmetric superconductor (NCS).We investigate the edge states and the vortex core states in s-wave NCS with Rashba and Dresselhaus (110) SO couplings by both numerical and analytical methods. In particular, we demonstrate that there exists a novel semimetal phase characterized by the flat Andreev bound states in the phase diagram of the s-wave Dresselhaus NCS which supports the emergence of Majorana fermion (MF). The flat dispersion implies a peak in the density of states which has a cle…
We theoretically study spin transport in two-or three-dimensional Rashba systems dynamically distorted by surface acoustic waves. The spin currents in the linear response to lattice distortion dynamics are calculated on the basis of a microscopic theory combined with local coordinate transformations. As a result, we find a mechanism of direct spin-current generation from lattice distortion not associated with a charge current or spin accumulation. Moreover, the in-plane helicity currents are generated by shear surface acoustic waves via the present mechanism. The generated helicity currents ar…
The generation of spin current and spin polarization in a 2DEG structure is studied in the presence of Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit couplings (SOC), the strength of the latter being modulated in time by an ac gate voltage. By means of the non-Abelian gauge field approach, we established the relation between the Lorentz spin force and the spin current in the SOC system, and showed that the longitudinal component of the spin force induces a transverse spin current. For a constant (time-invariant) Rashba system, we recover the universal spin Hall conductivity of $\frac e{8π}$, derived previo…
We study theoretically the ground states of topological defects in a spinor four-component condensate of cold indirect excitons. We analyze possible ground state solutions for different configurations of vortices and half-vortices. We show that if only Rashba or Dreselhaus spin-orbit interaction (SOI) for electrons is present the stable states of topological defects can represent a cylindrically symmetric half-vortex or half vortex-antivortex pairs, or a non-trivial pattern with warped vortices. In the presence of both of Rashba and Dresselhaus SOI the ground state of a condensate represents a…
We analyze theoretically optical generation of a spin-polarized charge current (photogalvanic effect) and spin polarization in graphene with Rashba spin-orbit coupling. An external magnetic field is applied in the graphene plane, which plays a crucial role in the mechanism of current generation. We predict a highly efficient resonant-like photogalvanic effect in a narrow frequency range which is determined by the magnetic field. A relatively less efficient photogalvanic effect appears in a broader frequency range, determined by the electron concentration and spin-orbit coupling strength.
Rashba effect describes how electrons moving in an electric field experience a momentum dependent magnetic field that couples to the electron angular momentum (spin). This physical phenomenon permits the generation of spin polarization from charge current (Edelstein effect), which leads to the buildup of spin accumulation. Spin accumulation due to Rashba Edelstein effect has been recently reported to be uniform and oriented in plane, which has been suggested for applications as spin filter device and efficient driving force for magnetization switching. Here, we report the X-ray spectroscopy ch…
We study the background (equilibrium), linear and nonlinear spin currents in 2D Rashba spin-orbit coupled systems with Zeeman splitting and in 3D noncentrosymmetric metals using modified spin current operator by inclusion of the anomalous velocity. The linear spin Hall current arises due to the anomalous velocity of charge carriers induced by the Berry curvature. The nonlinear spin current occurs due to the band velocity and/or the anomalous velocity. For 2D Rashba systems, the background spin current saturates at high Fermi energy (independent of the Zeeman coupling), linear spin current exhi…
When subjected to a linearly polarized terahertz pulse, a mesoscopic ring endowed with spin-orbit interaction (SOI) of the Rashba-Dresselhaus type exhibits nonuniform azimuthal charge and spin distributions. Both types of SOI couplings are considered linear in the electron momentum. Our results are obtained within a formalism based on the equation of motion satisfied by the density operator which is solved numerically for different values of the angle $ϕ$, the angle determining the polarization direction of the laser pulse. Solutions thus obtained are later employed in determining the time-dep…
In the current work we have investigated the influence of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling on spin-current of a single layer gapped graphene. It was shown that the Rashba coupling has a considerable role in generation of the spin-current of vertical spins in mono-layer graphene. The behavior of the spin-current is determined by density of impurities. It was also shown that the spin-current of the system could increase by increasing the Rashba coupling strength and band-gap of the graphene and the sign of the spin-current could be controlled by the direction of the current-driving electric field.
We theoretically study the mechanical induction of the spin density via the Rashba spin--orbit interaction (SOI). The spin density in the linear response to lattice distortion dynamics is calculated based on the microscopic theory. We reveal that there are two mechanisms of spin induction: one is the acoustic Edelstein effect (AEE) from the acceleration of the lattice dynamics and the other is caused by the Rashba spin--vorticity coupling (RSVC). We find that the AEE induces a more efficient spin-to-charge conversion in comparison with the conventional electric Edelstein effect. The induced sp…
The generation of spin current and spin polarization in 2DEG Rashba system is considered, in which the spin-orbital coupling (SOC) is modulated by an ac gate voltage. By using non-Abelian gauge field method, we show the presence of an additional electric field. This field induces a spin current generated even in the presence of impurity scattering and is related to the time-modulation of the Rashba SOC strength. In addition, the spin precession can be controlled by modulating the modulation frequency of the Rashba SOC strength. It is shown that at high modulation frequency, the precessional mo…
Pure spin currents in semiconductors are essential for implementation in the next generation of spintronic elements. Heterostructures of III- nitride semiconductors are currently employed as central building-blocks for lighting and high-power devices. Moreover, the long relaxation times and the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in these materials indicate them as privileged hosts for spin currents and related phenomena. Spin pumping is an efficient mechanism for the inception of spin current and its conversion into charge current in non-magnetic metals and semiconductors with Rashba SOC $via$ spin Hal…
A key concept in the emerging field of spintronics is the gate voltage or electric field control of spin precession via the effective magnetic field generated by the Rashba spin orbit interaction. Here, we demonstrate the generation and tuning of electric field induced Rashba spin orbit interaction in InAs nanowires where a strong electric field is created either by a double gate or a solid electrolyte surrounding gate. In particular, the electrolyte gating enables six-fold tuning of Rashba coefficient and nearly three orders of magnitude tuning of spin relaxation time within only 1 V of gate …
We study the energy spectrum of a vortex core in a two-dimensional semiconductor with Rashba spin-orbit interaction and proximity-coupled to a conventional superconductor and a ferromagnetic insulator. We perform self-consistent calculations using the microscopic tight-binding Bogoliubov-de Gennes method on a lattice and confirm the existence of Majorana fermions in the non-trivial topological phase. We also find two different topologically trivial bulk superconducting phases, only differing in the type of vortex core structure they support and separated by a zero-energy excitation. Furthermor…
The spin-galvanic (inverse Edelstein) and inverse spin-Hall effects are calculated for a hybrid system that combines thin superconductor and Rashba-metal layers. These effects are produced by a nonequilibrium spin polarization which is injected into the normal metal layer. This polarization gives rise to an electric potential that relaxes within some characteristic length, which is determined by Andreev reflection. Within this length the dissipative electric current of quasiparticles in the normal layer converts into the supercurrent. This process involves only subgap states and at low tempera…
Non-trivial momentum-space spin texture of electrons can be induced by spin-orbit coupling and underpins various spin transport phenomena, such as current-induced spin polarization and spin Hall effect. In this work, we find a non-trivial spin texture, spin anti-vortex, can appear at certain momenta on the $Γ-\text K$ line in 2D monolayer Pb on top of SiC. Different from spin vortex due to the band degeneracy in the Rashba model, the existence of this spin anti-vortex is guaranteed by Poincare-Hopf theorem and thus topologically stable. Accompanied with this spin anti-vortex, a Lifshtiz transi…
We propose a lateral spin-blockade device that uses an InGaAs/InAlAs double quantum well (DQW), where the values of the Rashba spin-orbit parameter $α_{\rm R}$ are opposite in sign but equal in magnitude between the constituent quantum wells (QW). By tuning the channel length of DQW and the magnitude of the externally applied in-plane magnetic field, one can block the transmission of one spin (e.g., spin-down) component, leading to a spin-polarized current. Such a spin-blocking effect, brought about by wave vector matching of the spin-split Fermi surfaces between the two QWs, paves the way for…
Electrons in double-layer semiconductor heterostructures experience a special type of spin-orbit interaction which arises in each layer from the perpendicular component of the Coulomb electric field created by electron density fluctuations in the other layer. We show that this interaction, acting in combination with the usual spin-orbit interaction, can generate a spin current in one layer when a charge current is driven in the other. This effect is symmetry-wise distinct from the spin Hall drag. The spin current is not, in general, perpendicular to the drive current.
Two-dimensional (2D) Rashba systems have been intensively studied in the last decade due to their unconventional physics, tunability capabilities, and potential for spin-charge interconversion when compared to conventional heavy metals. With the advent of a new generation of spin-based logic and memory devices, the search for Rashba systems with more robust and larger conversion efficiencies is expanding. Conventionally, demanding techniques such as angle- and spin-resolved photoemission spectroscopy are required to determine the Rashba parameter $α_{R}$ that characterizes these systems. Here,…
We prove that curvature effects in low-dimensional nanomaterials can promote the generation of topological states of matter by considering the paradigmatic example of quantum wires with Rashba spin-orbit coupling, which are periodically corrugated at the nanometer scale. The effect of the periodic curvature generally results in the appearance of insulating phases with a corresponding novel butterfly spectrum characterized by the formation of fine measure complex regions of forbidden energies. When the Fermi energy lies in the gaps, the system displays localized end states protected by topology…
We propose a photoexcitation scheme for pure spin current generation in graphene subject to a Rashba spinorbit coupling. Although excitation using circularly-polarized light does not result in optical orientation of spins in graphene unless an additional magnetic field is present, we show that excitation with linearly-polarized light at normal incidence yields spin current injection without magnetic field. Spins are polarized within the graphene plane and are displaced in opposite directions, with no net charge displacement. The direction of the spin current is determined by the linear polariz…
We investigate the properties of persistent charge current driven by magnetic flux in a quasi-periodic mesoscopic Fibonacci ring with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions. Within a tight-binding framework we work out individual state currents together with net current based on second-quantized approach. A significant enhancement of current is observed in presence of spin-orbit coupling and sometimes it becomes orders of magnitude higher compared to the spin-orbit interaction free Fibonacci ring. We also establish a scaling relation of persistent current with ring size, associated wit…
We report the observation of a spin-orbit torque (SOT) originating from the surface Rashba-Edelstein effect. We found that the SOT in a prototypical spin-orbitronic system, a Pt/Co bilayer, can be manipulated by molecular self-assembly on the Pt surface. This evidences that the Rashba spin-orbit coupling at the Pt surface generates a sizable SOT, which has been hidden by the strong bulk and interface spin-orbit coupling. We show that the molecular tuning of the surface Rashba-Edelstein SOT is consistent with density functional theory calculations. These results illustrate the crucial role of t…
The proximity of a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) to graphene imprints a rich spin texture in graphene and complements its high quality charge/spin transport by inducing spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Rashba and valley-Zeeman SOCs are the origin of charge-to-spin conversion mechanisms such as Rashba-Edelstein effect (REE) and spin Hall effect (SHE). In this work, we experimentally demonstrate for the first time charge-to-spin conversion due to the REE in a monolayer WS2-graphene van der Waals heterostructure. We measure the current-induced spin polarization up to room temperature and contro…
In this review article we describe spin-dependent transport in materials with spin-orbit interaction of Rashba type. We mainly focus on semiconductor heterostructures, topological insulators, graphene and hybrid structures involving superconductors as well. We start from basic properties of Rashba Hamiltonian in a two dimensional electron gas and then describe transport properties in 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 …
The Rashba physics has been intensively studied in the field of spin orbitronics, for the purpose of searching novel physical properties and the FM magnetization switching for technology applications. Here, we report the observation of the inverse Edelstein effect up to room temperature in the Rashba-split 2DEG between two insulating oxides SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 with the LaAlO3 layer thickness from 3 to 40 unit cells (UC). We further demonstrate that the spin voltage could be dramatically manipulated by electric field effect for the 2DEG between SrTiO3 and 3 UC LaAlO3. These results demonstrate th…
In a small subset of type II superconductor films, the critical current is determined by a weakened Bean-Livingston barrier posed by the film surfaces to vortex penetration into the sample. A film property thus depends sensitively on the surface or interface to an adjacent material. We theoretically investigate the dependence of vortex barrier and critical current in such films on the Rashba spin-orbit coupling at their interfaces with adjacent materials. Considering an interface with a magnetic insulator, we find the spontaneous supercurrent resulting from the exchange field and interfacial s…
We study high-harmonic generation in two-dimensional electron systems with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling and derive harmonic generation selection rules with the help of group theory. Based on the bandstructures of these minimal models and explicit simulations we reveal how the spin-orbit parameters control the cutoff energy in the high-harmonic spectrum. We also show that the magnetic field and polarization dependence of this spectrum provides information on the magnitude of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling parameters. The shape of the Fermi surface can be deduced at…
At interfaces with inversion symmetry breaking, Rashba effect couples the motion of electrons to their spin; as a result, spin-charge interconversion mechanism can occur. These interconversion mechanisms commonly exploit Rashba spin splitting at the Fermi level by spin pumping or spin torque ferromagnetic resonance. Here, we report evidence of significant photoinduced spin to charge conversion via Rashba spin splitting in an unoccupied state above the Fermi level at the Cu(111)/$α$-Bi$_{2}$O$_{3}$ interface. We predict an average Rashba coefficient of $1.72\times 10^{-10}eV.m$ at 1.98 eV above…
Vector vortex beams are a class of optical beams with singularities in their space-variant polarization. Vector vortex beam lasers have applications in many areas including imaging and communication, where vertical-cavity lasers emitting Gaussian beams have been most widely used so far. Generation of vector vortex beams from vertical-cavity lasers has required external control or modulation. Here, by utilizing a polarization-selective subwavelength grating as one of the reflectors in a vertical semiconductor microcavity, we design the spin textures of the polariton mode and demonstrate polarit…
We study nonequilibrium generation of spin-dependent transport through a single-level quantum dot embedded in a ring with the Rashba spin-orbit coupling. We consider nonmagnetic systems, involving no magnetic field nor ferromagnetic leads. It is theoretically predicted that large spin-dependent current occurs as a combined effect of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction, the Kondo effect, and nonequilibrium effect, without using magnetic field or material. The phenomenon is viewed as a new nonequilibrium correlation effect that disappears when either interaction or finite bias is absent. We show h…
The interaction of a magnetic vortex with a rotating magnetic field causes the nucleation of a vortex--antivortex pair leading to a vortex polarity switching. The key point of this process is the creation of a dip, which can be interpreted as a nonlinear resonance in the system of certain magnon modes with nonlinear coupling. The usually observed single-dip structure is a particular case of a multidip structure. The dynamics of the structure with $n$ dips is described as the dynamics of nonlinearly coupled modes with azimuthal numbers $m=0,\pm n,\pm 2n$. The multidip structure with arbitrary n…
Vortex waves, which carry orbital angular momentum, have found use in a range of fields from quantum communications to particle manipulation. Due to their widespread influence, significant attention has been paid to the methods by which vortex waves are generated. For example, active phased arrays generate diverse vortex modes at the cost of electronic complexity and power consumption. Conversely, analog apertures, such as spiral phase plates, metasurfaces, and gratings require separate apertures to generate each mode. Here we present a new class of metamaterial-based acoustic vortex generator…
Surface plasmon polaritons carrying orbital angular momentum are of great fundamental and applied interest. However, common approaches for their generation are restricted to having a weak dependence on the properties of the plasmon-generating illumination, providing a limited degree of control over the amount of delivered orbital angular momentum. Here we experimentally show that by tailoring local and global geometries of vortex generators, a change in circular polarization handedness of light imposes arbitrary large switching in the delivered plasmonic angular momentum. Using time-resolved p…
We propose an all-electrically controlled nanodevice - a gated semiconductor nanowire - capable of generating a coherent state of a single electron trapped in a harmonic oscillator or superposition of such coherent states - the Schrödinger cat state. In the proposed scheme, electron in the ground state of the harmonic potential is driven by resonantly oscillating Rashba spin-orbit coupling. This allows for the creation of the Schrödinger cat state with superposition amplitudes depending on the initial electron spin state. Such a method can be used for initialization of a single spin qubit defi…
A vortex-antivortex (VA) dipole may be generated due to a spin-polarized current flowing through a nano-aperture in a magnetic element. We study the vortex dipole dynamics using the Landau-Lifshitz equation in the presence of an in-plane applied magnetic field and a Slonczewski spin-torque term with in-plane polarization. We establish that the vortex dipole is set in steady state rotational motion. The frequency of rotation is due to two independent forces: the interaction between the two vortices and the external magnetic field. The nonzero skyrmion number of the dipole is responsible for bot…
We propose a hierarchy set of minimal optical Raman lattice schemes toward the experimental realization of spin-orbit (SO) couplings of various types for ultracold atoms, including two-dimensional (2D) Dirac type of $C_4$ symmetry, 2D Rashba and 3D Weyl types. These schemes are well accessible with current cold-atom technology, and in particular, a long-lived Bose-Einstein condensation of the 2D Dirac SO coupling has been experimentally proved. The generation of 2D Rashba and 3D Weyl types has an exquisite request that two sources of laser beams have distinct frequencies of factor-two differen…
Controlling electric and magnetic properties of matter by laser beams is actively explored in the broad region of condensed matter physics, including spintronics and magneto-optics. Here we theoretically propose an application of optical and electron vortex beams carrying intrinsic orbital angular momentum to chiral ferro- and antiferro- magnets. We analyze the time evolution of spins in chiral magnets under irradiation of vortex beams, by using the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation. We show that beam-driven nonuniform temperature lead to a class of ring-shaped magnetic defects, what…
