Intrinsic Spin Hall Effect: Topological Transitions in Two-Dimensional Systems

Abstract

The spin-Hall conductivity in spatially-homogeneous two-dimensional electron systems described by the spin-orbit Hamiltonian \hbar Ω_p σis presented as a sum of the universal part Me/8 π\hbar determined by the Berry phase Φ=M π(M is an odd integer, the winding number of the vector Ω_p) and a non-universal part which vanishes under certain conditions determined by the analytical properties of Ω_p. The analysis reveals a rich and complicated behavior of the spin-Hall conductivity which is relevant to both electron and hole states in quantum wells and can be detected in experiments.

4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters on 14 March 2007, revised 21 May 2007

References in corpus (6)

• Spin current and polarization in impure 2D electron systems with spin-orbit coupling
• Current-Induced Polarization and the Spin Hall Effect at Room Temperature
• Spin Hall effect and Berry phase in two dimensional electron gas
• Spin-Hall transport of heavy holes in III-V semiconductor quantum wells
• Quasiclassical approach to the spin-Hall effect in the two-dimensional electron gas
• Small-angle impurity scattering and the spin Hall conductivity in 2D systems