Rashba effect
A milestone to spin-polarized current
01/04/08 10:00
Two dimensional electron gases are formed at semiconductor heterojunction. If you apply a potential gradient perpendicular the junction plane, a spin-orbit interaction in proportion to the potential gradient as well as two-dimensional wavevector k is excerted to the electrons. As a result the electron spin is quantized in the direction perpendicular to both the plane normal and k, thus splitting the energy band. This is called the Rashba-Bychkov effect (or, Rashba effect). An important point is that the “direction” of the spin is inverted when you invert the sign of the k vector....Read more...