Charge and spin transport in nanoscopic structures with spin orbit coupling

A. REYNOSO; GONZALO USAJ; C. A. BALSEIRO

PHYSICA B - CONDENSED MATTER

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2006 vol. 384 p. 28 - 32

0921-4526

During the last years there has been much interest, and theoretical discussion, about the possibility to use spin-orbit coupling to control the carriers spins in two-dimensional semiconducting heterostructures. Spin polarization at the sample edges may occur as the response of systems with strong SO-coupling to an external transport current, an effect known as spin Hall effect. Here, we show that in a 2DEG with Rashba SO-coupling, spin polarization near the sample edge can develop kinematically for low electron densities. We also discuss the effect in quantum wires where lateral confinement plays an important role.