Theory of electric-field-induced spin accumulation and spin current in the two-dimensional Rashba model

Abstract

Based on the spin-density-matrix approach, both the electric-field-induced spin accumulation and the spin current are systematically studied for the two-dimensional Rashba model. Eigenmodes of spin excitations give rise to resonances in the frequency domain. Utilizing a general and physically well-founded definition of the spin current, we obtain results that differ remarkably from previous findings. It is shown that there is a close relationship between the spin accumulation and the spin current, which is due to the prescription of a quasi-chemical potential and which does not result from a conservation law. Physical ambiguities are removed that plagued former approaches with respect to a spin-Hall current that is independent of the electric field. For the clean Rashba model, the intrinsic spin-Hall conductivity exhibits a logarithmic divergency in the low-frequency regime.

19 pages including figures

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• Spin and orbital Edelstein effect in an oxide two-dimensional electron gas: theory and application to AlO${}_x$/SrTiO${}_3$
• Electric field-induced spin textures in a superlattice with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling
• Frequency dependence of induced spin polarization and spin current in quantum wells
• Generalized Kubo formula for spin transport: A theory of linear response to non-Abelian fields
• Electric-field induced spin excitations in two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled systems
• Torque and conventional spin-Hall currents in two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled systems: Universal relation and hyper-selection rule
• Spin polarization in biased Rashba-Dresselhaus two-dimensional electron systems
• Kinetic theory of spin-polarized systems in electric and magnetic fields with spin-orbit coupling: I. Kinetic equation and anomalous Hall and spin-Hall effects
• Out-of-plane Edelstein effects: Electric-field induced magnetization in $p$-wave magnets
• Diffusive-Ballistic Crossover and the Persistent Spin Helix
• Current-induced spin polarization for a general two-dimensional electron system
• Spin-Hall effect and spin-coherent excitations in a strongly confined two-dimensional hole gas
• Description of spin transport and precession in spin-orbit coupling systems and a general equation of continuity
• Coupled spin-charge drift-diffusion approach for a two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling
• Theory of spin-Hall transport of heavy holes in semiconductor quantum wells
• Transverse force generated by an electric field and transverse charge imbalance in spin-orbit coupled systems
• Two-time quantum transport and quantum diffusion
• Microscopic theory for the Doppler velocimetry of spin propagation in semiconductor quantum wells
• Steady-state spin densities and currents
• Dynamical charge and pseudospin currents in graphene and possible Cooper pair formation
• Oscillation of spin polarization in a two-dimensional hole gas under a perpendicular magnetic field
• Resonant Edelstein and inverse-Edelstein effects, charge-to-spin conversion, and spin pumping from chiral-spin modes
• Some exact identities connecting one- and two-particle Green's functions in spin-orbit coupling systems