Voltage induced conversion of helical to uniform nuclear spin polarization in a quantum wire

Abstract

We study the effect of bias voltage on the nuclear spin polarization of a ballistic wire, which contains electrons and nuclei interacting via hyperfine interaction. In equilibrium, the localized nuclear spins are helically polarized due to the electron-mediated Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction. Focusing here on non-equilibrium, we find that an applied bias voltage induces a uniform polarization, from both helically polarized and unpolarized spins available for spin flips. Once a macroscopic uniform polarization in the nuclei is established, the nuclear spin helix rotates with frequency proportional to the uniform polarization. The uniform nuclear spin polarization monotonically increases as a function of both voltage and temperature, reflecting a thermal activation behavior. Our predictions offer specific ways to test experimentally the presence of a nuclear spin helix polarization in semiconducting quantum wires.

arXiv comment8 pages, 4 figures

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Nuclear-spin-induced localization of the edge states in two-dimensional topological insulators
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• Helical Liquids in Semiconductors
• Antiferromagnetic nuclear spin helix and topological superconductivity in ${}^{13}$C nanotubes