2003/05/14 by Janine Splettstoesser, Michele Governale, U. Zülicke +1 · 3 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advancements in Semiconductor Devices and Circuit Design #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Semiconductor materials and devices #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.68.165341
published as Phys. Rev. B 68, 165341 (2003) · RevTex 4, 9 pages, 8 figures
arxiv created 2003/05/14 · openalex publication_date 2003/10/28 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
The presence of spin-orbit coupling affects the spontaneously flowing persistent currents in mesoscopic conducting rings. Here we analyze their dependence on magnetic flux with emphasis on identifying possibilities to prove the presence and extract the strength of Rashba spin splitting in low-dimensional systems. Effects of disorder and mixing between quasi-one-dimensional ring subbands are considered. The spin-orbit coupling strength can be inferred from the values of flux where sign changes occur in the persistent charge current. As an important consequence of the presence of spin splitting, we identify a nontrivial persistent spin current that is not simply proportional to the charge current. The different flux dependences of persistent charge and spin currents are a unique signature of spin-orbit coupling affecting the electronic structure of the ring.