Spin geometric-phases in hopping magnetoconductance

Abstract

We identify theoretically the geometric phases of the electrons' spin that can be detected in measurements of charge and spin transport through Aharonov-Bohm interferometers threaded by a magnetic flux $\Phi$ (in units of the flux quantum) in which both the Rashba spin-orbit and Zeeman interactions are active. We show that the combined effect of these two interactions is to produce a $\sin (\Phi )$ [in addition to the usual $\cos (\Phi )$] dependence of the magnetoconductance, whose amplitude is proportional to the Zeeman field. Therefore the magnetoconductance, though an even function of the magnetic field is not a periodic function of it, and the widely-used concept of a phase shift in the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, as indicated in previous work, is not applicable. We find the directions of the spin-polarizations in the system, and show that in general the spin currents are not conserved, implying the generation of magnetization in the terminals attached to the interferometer.

References in corpus (3)

• Quantum interference of electrons in a ring: tuning of the geometrical phase
• Charge and spin polarized currents in mesoscopic rings with Rashba spin-orbit interactions coupled to an electron reservoir
• Non-Abelian Aharonov-Casher Phase Factor in Mesoscopic Systems

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Magnetoconductance Anisotropies and Aharonov-Casher Phases
• Topological states and interplay between spin-orbit and Zeeman interactions in a spinful Su-Schrieffer-Heeger nanowire
• Photovoltaic effect generated by spin-orbit interactions
• Effects of magnetic fields on the Datta-Das spin field-effect transistor
• Topological charge and spin pumping in a semiconductor nanowire
• Thermoelectric performance of nano junctions subjected to microwave driven spin-orbit coupling
• Spin qubit shuttling between coupled quantum dots with inhomogeneous Landé g-tensors
• Floquet topological properties in the Non-Hermitian long-range system with complex hopping amplitudes