2007/09/14 by Eugene M. Chudnovsky
Physics and Astronomy · #Magnetic properties of thin films #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Surface and Thin Film Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.99.206601
published as Physical Review Letters 99, 206601 (2007) · 4 pages, 0 figures, minor extension and corrections of version 1
arxiv created 2007/09/14 · openalex publication_date 2007/11/14 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
An extension of the Drude model is proposed that accounts for the spin and spin-orbit interaction of charge carriers. Spin currents appear due to the combined action of the external electric field, crystal field, and scattering of charge carriers. The expression for the spin Hall conductivity is derived for metals and semiconductors that is independent of the scattering mechanism. In cubic metals, the spin Hall conductivity sigma s and charge conductivity sigma c are related through sigma s=[2pi variant /(3mc2)]sigma2c with m being the bare electron mass. The theoretically computed value is in agreement with experiment.