Spin relaxation in a generic two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled system

Spin relaxation in a generic two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled system

We study the relaxation of a spin density injected into a two-dimensional electron system with generic spin-orbit interactions. Our model includes the Rashba as well as linear and cubic Dresselhaus terms. We explicitly derive a general spin-charge coupled diffusion equation. Spin diffusion is characterized by just two independent dimensionless parameters, R and D, which control the interplay be...

Experimental observation of the spin-Hall effect in a two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled semiconductor system.

We report the experimental observation of the spin-Hall effect in a 2D hole system with spin-orbit coupling. The 2D hole layer is a part of a p-n junction light-emitting diode with a specially designed coplanar geometry which allows an angle-resolved polarization detection at opposite edges of the 2D hole system. In equilibrium the angular momenta of the spin-orbit split heavy-hole states lie i...

Quantum nanostructures in strongly spin-orbit coupled two- dimensional systems

Plasmons in spin-orbit coupled two-dimensional hole gas systems

We study the dynamical dielectric function of a two-dimensional hole gas, exemplified on [001] GaAs and InAs quantum wells, within the Luttinger model extended to the two lowest subbands including bulk and structure inversion asymmetric terms. The plasmon dispersion shows a pronounced anisotropy for GaAsand InAs-based systems. In GaAs this leads to a suppression of plasmons due to Landau dampin...

Spin relaxation of two-dimensional electrons with a hierarchy of spin--orbit couplings

The density-matrix formalism is applied to calculate the spin-relaxation time for two-dimensional systems with a hierarchy of spin–orbit couplings, such as Rashba-type, Dresselhaus-type and strain-induced. It is found that the spinrelaxation time can be infinite if those coupling strengths α, β , γ1 and γ2 satisfy either condition (i) α = β, γ1 = 0 or (ii) α = −β, γ2 = 0, which correspond to th...