Electrical manipulation and measurement of spin properties of quantum spin Hall edge states

Abstract

We study effects of a gate-controlled Rashba spin-orbit coupling to quantum spin-Hall edge states in HgTe quantum wells. A uniform Rashba coupling can be employed in tuning the spin orientation of the edge states while preserving the time-reversal symmetry. We introduce a sample geometry where the Rashba coupling can be used in probing helicity by purely electrical means without requiring spin detection, application of magnetic materials or magnetic fields. In the considered setup a tilt of the spin orientation with respect to the normal of the sample leads to a reduction in the two-terminal conductance with current-voltage characteristics and temperature dependence typical of Luttinger liquid constrictions.

arXiv comment4 pages, 4 figures. Footnote added, typos corrected

References in corpus (15)

• Topological Insulators
• Quantum Spin Hall Effect in Graphene
• Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum Wells
• $Z_2$ Topological Order and the Quantum Spin Hall Effect
• Quantum Spin Hall Insulator State in HgTe Quantum Wells
• Basic obstacle for electrical spin-injection from a ferromagnetic metal into a diffusive semiconductor
• Nonlocal edge state transport in the quantum spin Hall state
• The Quantum Spin Hall Effect: Theory and Experiment
• The Helical Liquid and the Edge of Quantum Spin Hall Systems
• Finite size effects of helical edge states in HgTe/CdTe quantum wells
• Direct observation of the Aharonov-Casher phase
• Fingerprint of Different Spin-Orbit Terms for Spin Transport in HgTe Quantum Wells
• Edge Dynamics in a Quantum Spin Hall State: Effects from Rashba Spin-Orbit Interaction
• Corner Junction as a Probe of Helical Edge States
• Tunneling between edge states in a quantum spin Hall system

Cited by in corpus (27)

• Evidence for Helical Edge Modes in Inverted InAs/GaSb Quantum Wells
• Imaging currents in HgTe quantum wells in the quantum spin Hall regime
• Spatially resolved study of backscattering in the quantum spin Hall state
• Spin-polarized current induced by a local exchange field in a silicene nanoribbon
• Electrical switching and interferometry of massive Dirac particles in topological insulators constrictions
• Proposal for an on-demand source of polarized electrons into the edges of a topological insulator
• Spin-thermoelectric transport induced by interactions and spin-flip processes in two dimensional topological insulators
• Transport through a quantum spin Hall quantum dot
• Signatures of Rashba spin-orbit interaction in the superconducting proximity effect in helical Luttinger liquids
• Coulomb blockade microscopy of spin density oscillations and fractional charge in quantum spin Hall dots
• Electrical control of the Kondo effect in a helical edge liquid
• Spin current pumping in helical Luttinger liquids
• Dephasing of spin and charge interference in helical Luttinger liquids
• Polarized heat current generated by quantum pumping in two-dimensional topological insulators
• Spin-orbit interactions in a helical Luttinger liquid with a Kondo impurity
• Non-Equilibrium Transport Through a Gate-Controlled Barrier on the Quantum Spin Hall Edge
• Probing helicity and the topological origins of helicity via non-local Hanbury-Brown and Twiss correlations
• Levitons in helical liquids with Rashba spin-orbit coupling probed by a superconducting contact
• $\pi$ Spin Berry Phase in a Quantum-Spin-Hall-Insulator-Based Interferometer: Evidence for the Helical Spin Texture of the Edge States
• Interplay between Rashba interaction and electromagnetic field in the edge states of a 2D topological insulator
• Elastic backscattering of quantum spin Hall edge modes from Coulomb interactions with non-magnetic impurities
• Photoexcitation in two-dimensional topological insulators: Generating and controlling electron wavepackets in Quantum Spin Hall systems
• Interaction effects in non-equilibrium transport properties of a four-terminal topological corner junction
• Transport and STM studies of hyperbolic surface states of topological insulators
• Electrically tunable two-channel Kondo fixed points in helical liquids
• Random-gate-voltage induced Al'tshuler-Aronov-Spivak effect in topological edge states
• Manipulation of helical states revealed by crossed Andreev reflection