Current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization in semiconductor-nanowire/s-wave superconductor junctions with strong spin–orbit coupling

We have studied the characteristics of current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization in semiconductor-nanowire/swave superconductor junctions with strong spin–orbit coupling. It was found that within some parameter regions the magnitude of the current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization density in such structures will increase(or decrease) with the decrease(or increase) of the charge current density, in contrast to that found in normal spin–orbit coupled semiconductor structures. It was also found that the unusual characteristics of the current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization in such structures can be well explained by the effect of the Andreev reflection.     

Adsorption-enhanced spin–orbit coupling of buckled honeycomb silicon

We have studied the electronic structures of quasi-two-dimensional buckled honeycomb silicon (BHS) saturated by atomic hydrogen and fluorine by means of first-principles calculations. The graphene-like hexagonal silicon with chair configurations can be stabilized by atomic hydrogen and fluorine adsorption. Together with a magnetic ground state, large spin–orbit coupling (SOC) of BHS saturated by hydrogen on either side (Semi-H-BHS) indicated by the band splitting of σ bond at Γ point in the Brillouin zone is attributed to the intermixing between the density of states of hydrogen atoms and π bonds of unpassivated Si₂ around the Fermi level. The Zeeman spin splitting is most likely caused by the internal electric field induced by asymmetric charge transfer.     

Spin Hall effect and spin current generation in two-dimensional systems with random Rashba spin–orbit coupling

We consider a new effect induced by spin–orbit coupling in a two-dimensional electron gas confined in a semiconductor quantum well, i.e. the possibility of spin current generation by fluctuating random Rashba spin–orbit interaction, with the corresponding mean value of the interaction being equal to zero. Our main results suggest that – in contrast to the spatially uniform Rashba spin–orbit interaction – the spin Hall effect does not vanish for typical disorder strengths. We also point out some other possibilities of using such a random Rashba coupling for the generation of spin density and spin current in two-dimensional nonmagnetic structures.     

Characteristics of persistent spin current components in a quasi-periodic Fibonacci ring with spin–orbit interactions: Prediction of spin–orbit coupling and on-site energy

In the present work we investigate the behavior of all three components of persistent spin current in a quasi-periodic Fibonacci ring subjected to Rashba and Dresselhaus spin–orbit interactions. Analogous to persistent charge current in a conducting ring where electrons gain a Berry phase in presence of magnetic flux, spin Berry phase is associated during the motion of electrons in presence of a spin–orbit field which is responsible for the generation of spin current. The interplay between two spin–orbit fields along with quasi-periodic Fibonacci sequence on persistent spin current is described elaborately, and from our analysis, we can estimate the strength of any one of two spin–orbit couplings together with on-site energy, provided the other is known.     

Effect of in-plane magnetic field on spin polarization in the presence of the Dresselhaus spin–orbit effect

In this paper, we theoretically study the effect of the in-plane magnetic field on spin polarization in the presence of the Dresselhaus spin–orbit effect. It is shown that the large spin polarization can be achieved in such a nanostructure due to the effects of both the Dresselhaus spin–orbit term and the in-plane magnetic field, but the latter plays a main role in the tunneling process. It is also shown that with the increase of in-plane magnetic field, the degree of spin splitting obviously becomes larger.     

Conductance dips and spin precession in a nonuniform waveguide with spin–orbit coupling

An infinite waveguide with a nonuniformity, a segment of finite length with spin–orbit coupling, is considered in the case when the Rashba and Dresselhaus parameters are identical. Analytical expressions have been derived in the single-mode approximation for the conductance of the system for an arbitrary initial spin state. Based on numerical calculations with several size quantization modes, we have detected and described the conductance dips arising when the waves are localized in the nonuniformity due to the formation of an effective potential well in it. We show that allowance for the evanescent modes under carrier spin precession in an effective magnetic field does not lead to a change in the direction of the average spin vector at the output of the system.     

Anisotropic quantum transport in monolayer graphene in the presence of Rashba spin–orbit coupling

We have studied spin-dependent electron tunneling through the Rashba barrier in a monolayer graphene lattices. The transfer matrix method, have been employed to obtain the spin dependent transport properties of the chiral particles. It is shown that graphene sheets in the presence of Rashba spin–orbit barrier will act as an electron spin-inverter.     

Kink-like breathers in Bose–Einstein condensates with helicoidal spin–orbit coupling

We report a kind of kink-like breathers in one-dimensional Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) with helicoidal spin–orbit coupling (SOC), on whose two sides the background densities manifest obvious difference (called kink amplitude). The kink amplitude and shape of breather can be adjusted by the strength and period of helicoidal SOC, and its atomic number in two components exchanges periodically with time. The SOC has similar influence on the kink amplitude and the exchanged atomic number, especially when the background wave number is fixed. It indicates that the oscillating intensity of breather can be controlled by adjusting initial kink amplitude. Our work showcases the great potential of realizing novel types of breathers through SOC, and deepens our understanding on the formation mechanisms of breathers in BECs.     

Combining spin-adapted open-shell TD-DFT with spin–orbit coupling

The recently proposed spin-adapted time-dependent density functional theory (S-TD-DFT) is extended to the relativistic domain for fine-structure splittings of excited states of open-shell systems. Scalar-relativistic effects are treated to infinite order via the spin-free (sf) part of the exact two-component (X2C) Hamiltonian, whereas the spin–orbit couplings (SOC) between the scalar-excited states are treated perturbatively via an effective one-electron spin–orbit operator derived from the same X2C Hamiltonian. The calculated results for prototypical open-shell systems containing heavy elements reveal that the composite approach sf-X2C-S-TD-DFT-SOC is very promising. The fine-structure splitting of a spatially degenerate ground state can also be described properly by taking a non-degenerate excited state as the reference.     

Effective period potential in a hybrid mesoscopic ring with Rashba spin–orbit interaction

We investigate theoretically the persistent charge current (PCC) and pure spin current (PSC) in a hybrid mesoscopic ring with Rashba spin–orbit interaction (RSOI). The PCC and PSC surviving in the ring would experience a periodic potential formed by the band offset of the constituent materials. Similarly, an effective tunnel barrier can be introduced by a region with different RSOI strength. This provides us a convenient way to manipulate the periodic potential by changing the RSOI strength through an electric field. With the increment of the RSOI strength, the PCC is suppressed, while the PSC presents an oscillatory pattern changing from negative to positive.     

Tunable valley filter efficiency by spin–orbit coupling in silicene nanoconstrictions

Valley filter is a promising device for producing valley polarized current in graphene-like two-dimensional honeycomb lattice materials. The relatively large spin–orbit coupling in silicene contributes to remarkable quantum spin Hall effect, which leads to distinctive valley-dependent transport properties compared with intrinsic graphene. In this paper,quantized conductance and valley polarization in silicene nanoconstrictions are theoretically investigated in quantum spinHall insulator phase. Nearly perfect valley filter effect is found by aligning the gate voltage in the central constriction region. However, the valley polarization plateaus are shifted with the increase of spin–orbit coupling strength, accompanied by smooth variation of polarization reversal. Our findings provide new strategies to control the valley polarization in valleytronic devices.     

Zeeman coupling in low-carrier antiferromagnetic conductors with strong spin–orbit interaction

I show that, in commensurate Néel antiferromagnetic conductors with inversion symmetry, the substantial momentum dependence of the Zeeman term survives strong spin–orbit coupling and substantial magnetic anisotropy. I illustrate this by a simple example.     

Possible polaron formation of zigzag graphene nano-ribbon in the presence of Rashba spin–orbit coupling

In this article we study the role of Rashba spin–orbit coupling and electron–phonon interaction on the electronic structure of zigzag graphene nanoribbon with different width. The total Hamiltonian of nanoribbon is written in the tight binding form and the electron–electron interaction is modeled in the Hubbard term. We used a unitary transformation to reach an effective Hamiltonian for nano ribbon in the presence of electron–phonon interaction. Our results show that small Rashba spin orbit coupling annihilates the anti-ferromagnetic phase in the zigzag edges of ribbon and the electron–phonon interaction yields small polaron formation in graphene nano ribbon. Furthermore, Rashba type spin–orbit coupling increases (decreases) the polaron formation energy for up (down) spin state.     

Effect of Rashba spin–orbit coupling on the spin polarized transport in diluted magnetic semiconductor barrier structures

We investigate theoretically the effects of Rashba spin–orbit coupling on the spin dependent transport through diluted magnetic semiconductor single and double barrier structures in the presence of a magnetic field. We find that the Rashba spin–orbit coupling gives rise to an enhancement of the negative tunnelling magnetoresistance of the diluted magnetic semiconductor single barrier structure and a pronounced beating pattern in the tunnelling magnetoresistance and spin polarization of the diluted magnetic semiconductor double barrier structure.     

Tunable ground-state solitons in spin–orbit coupling Bose–Einstein condensates in the presence of optical lattices

Properties of the ground-state solitons, which exist in the spin–orbit coupling(SOC) Bose–Einstein condensates(BEC) in the presence of optical lattices, are presented. Results show that several system parameters, such as SOC strength,lattice depth, and lattice frequency, have important influences on properties of ground state solitons in SOC BEC. By controlling these parameters, structure and spin polarization of the ground-state solitons can be effectively tuned, so manipulation of atoms may be realized.     

Features of quasiparticle decay in 2D electronic systems with spin–orbit interaction

The dependence of the width of the spectral function of electrons and holes on the wavevector and excitation energy in a 2D electron system with spin-orbit interaction caused by structural inversion asymmetry is analyzed in the G ⁰ W ⁰ approximation. It is shown that an additional (relative to the generation of electron-hole pairs) channel of hole decay due to emission of a plasmon appears in the case of low electron density. Noticeable spin asymmetry of the spectral function width appears in the region of electron excitations.     

Effects of the spin–orbit coupling on magnetic and superconducting properties in iron-based superconductors

We analyze the magnetic properties through two-orbital Hubbard model with the spin–orbit coupling (SOC) interaction in the iron-based superconductors. With the help of the Ising approximation for the Hund’s coupling between the itinerant electrons and the localized spins, we give a self-consistent account of the various magnetic orders observed in pnictides and the pairing symmetry. We also calculate the local density of states (LDOS) of the vortex state when a magnetic field is applied. The LDOS without SOC shows no resonant peak at the vortex core center in the superconducting state, while it shows an obvious resonant peak when SOC is applied.     

Bose–Einstein condensates under a non-Hermitian spin–orbit coupling

We study the properties of Bose–Einstein condensates under a non-Hermitian spin–orbit coupling(SOC), induced by a dissipative two-photon Raman process. We focus on the dynamics of the condensate at short times, when the impact of decoherence induced by quantum jumps is negligible and the dynamics is coherently driven by a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. Given the significantly modified single-particle physics by dissipative SOC, the interplay of non-Hermiticity and interaction leads to a quasi-steady-state phase diagram different from its Hermitian counterpart. In particular, we find that dissipation can induce a phase transition from the stripe phase to the plane-wave phase. We further map out the phase diagram with respect to the dissipation and interaction strengths, and finally investigate the stability of quasi-steady states through the time-dependent dissipative Gross–Pitaevskii equation. Our results are readily accessible based on standard experiments with synthetic spin–orbit couplings.