2007•Physica status solidi. C, Conferences and critical reviews/Physica status solidi. C, Current topics in solid state physicsRequires access
Spin‐Hall effect in a finite 2D Rashba electron system
S. Y. Liu, Norman J. M. Horing, X. L. Lei
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Abstract
Abstract The spin‐Hall effect in semiconductors with spin‐orbit coupling has been extensively investigated recently. However, such spin‐Hall current was shown to vanish quite generally in the diffusive regime in infinitely large two‐dimensional (2D) semiconductors with Rashba spin‐orbit interaction. Here, employing a kinetic equation approach, we investigate the spin‐Hall effect in finite‐size Rashba 2D semiconductors. We find that the fluctuation of electron density near the sample boundaries may give rise to a nonvanishing spin polarization, notwithstanding the vanishing of spin‐Hall current. With decreasing impurity density, the spin polarization increases. Our result indicates that the spin‐Hall current does not directly relate to spin accumulation, the latter of which may be observed experimentally. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)