Regensburg 2016 – scientific programme
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HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik
HL 52: Spintronics (incl. quantum dynamics) (Joint session of HL, MA and TT, organized by MA)
HL 52.5: Talk
Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 10:30–10:45, H32
Theoretical aspects of the Edelstein effect for anisotropic 2DEGs and topological insulators — •Annika Johansson1,2, Dmitry Fedorov1,2, Jürgen Henk2, and Ingrid Mertig2,1 — 1Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle, Germany — 2Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
A charge current driven through a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) with Rashba spin-orbit coupling [1] generates a spatially homogeneous spin polarization perpendicular to the applied electric field. This phenomenon is the Edelstein effect [2].
For selected model systems, we consider the Edelstein effect within the semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory. Its energy dependence is investigated, in particular the regime below the Dirac point of the 2DEG. In addition to an isotropic 2DEG [1], we analyze systems with anisotropic Fermi contours. We predict that the current-induced spin polarization vanishes if the Fermi contour passes through a Lifshitz transition. In addition, we corroborate that topological insulators provide a very efficient conversion of charge to spin current [3].
Our findings for paradigmatic Rashba systems call for experimental verification.
[1] Y. Bychokov and E. Rashba, J. Phys. C, 17, 6039 (1984) [2] V. M. Edelstein, Solid State Commun., 73, 233 (1990) [3] J. C. Rojas Sánchez et al., ArXiv: 1509.02973 (2015)