Boundary conditions for spin and charge diffusion in the presence of interfacial spin-orbit coupling

Abstract

Breaking of the inversion symmetry at the interface between different materials may dramatically enhance spin-orbit interaction in the vicinity of the interface. We incorporate the effects of this interfacial spin-orbit coupling (ISOC) into the standard drift-diffusion theory by deriving generalized boundary conditions for diffusion equations. Our theoretical scheme is based on symmetry arguments, providing a natural classification and parametrization of all spin-charge and spin-spin conversion effects that occur due to ISOC at macroscopically isotropic interfaces between nonmagnetic materials. We illustrate our approach with specific examples of spin-charge conversion in hybrid structures. In particular, for a lateral metal-insulator structure we predict an "ISOC-gating" effect which can be used to detect spin currents in metallic films with weak bulk SOC.

References in corpus (12)

• Direct electronic measurement of the spin Hall effect
• Non-collinear Magnetoelectronics
• Magnetoresistance due to edge spin accumulation
• Intrinsic Spin Hall Edges
• Theory of coupled spin-charge transport due to spin-orbit interaction in inhomogeneous two-dimensional electron liquids
• Ballistic spin transport in the presence of interfaces with strong spin-orbit coupling
• Theory of the spin galvanic effect at oxide interfaces
• Boundary spin Hall effect in a two-dimensional semiconductor system with Rashba spin-orbit coupling
• On boundary conditions for spin diffusion equations with Rashba spin-orbit interaction
• Current-induced spin polarization at the surface of metallic films: a theorem and an ab initio calculation
• Spin-Hall Conductivity and Electric Polarization in Metallic Thin Films
• Spin orientation and spin-Hall effect induced by tunneling electrons

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Maximizing Spin-Orbit Torque Generated by the Spin Hall Effect of Pt
• Switching of Perpendicular Magnetization by Spin-Orbit Torque
• Absence of significant spin current generation in Ti/FeCoB bilayers with strong interfacial spin-orbit coupling
• Nonreciprocal superconducting transport and the spin Hall effect in gyrotropic structures
• Measurement of the Spin Absorption Anisotropy in Lateral Spin Valves
• Theory of magnetic response in finite two-dimensional superconductors
• Evidence for spin swapping from modulation of transverse resistance in magnetic heterostructures with Rashba interface
• Current-induced spin polarization at metallic surfaces from first-principles
• Interfacial spin-orbit coupling in superconducting hybrid systems
• Large spin-charge interconversion induced by interfacial spin-orbit coupling in a highly conducting all-metallic system
• Quantification of interfacial spin-charge conversion in metal/insulator hybrid structures by generalized boundary conditions