Unitarity of scattering and edge spin accumulation

Abstract

We consider a 2D ballistic and quasi-ballistic structures with spin-orbit-related splitting of the electron spectrum. The ballistic region is attached to the leads with a voltage applied between them. We calculate the edge spin density which arises in the presence of a charge current through the structure. We solve the problem with the use of the method of scattering states and clarify the important role of the unitarity of scattering. In the case of a straight boundary it leads to exact cancellation of long-wavelength oscillations of the spin density. In general, however, the smooth spin oscillations with the spin precession length may arise, as it happens, e.g., for the wiggly boundary. Moreover, we show that the result crucially depends on the form of the spin-orbit Hamiltonian.

5 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1007.1133

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• How to construct the proper gauge-invariant density matrix in steady-state nonequilibrium: Applications to spin-transfer and spin-orbit torques
• Giant edge spin accumulation in a symmetric quantum well with two subbands
• Edge spin accumulation in 2D electron and hole systems in a quasi-ballistic regime
• Spin Filtering via Resonant Reflection of Relativistic Surface States
• Effect of boundary scattering on spin-hall effect