2011/09/30 by Likun Shi, Li-kun Shi, Shou-cheng Zhang +2
Materials Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Angular momentum #Condensed matter physics #Electric field #Electron #Graphene research and applications #Mathematics #Orbital motion #Physics #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spin engineering #Spin polarization #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Topological insulator #Topology (electrical circuits) #Zitterbewegung #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.87.161115
published as PhysRevB.87.161115(R)(2013) · 5 pages and 4 figures for the letter, 6 pagers for the online supplemental material
openalex publication_date 2013/04/22 · arxiv created 2016/01/13 · arxiv updated 2016/01/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present a general theory about electron orbital motions in topological insulators. An in-plane electric field drives spin-up and spin-down electrons bending to opposite directions, and skipping orbital motions, a counterpart of the integer quantum Hall effect, are formed near the boundary of the sample. The accompanying Zitterbewegung can be found and controlled by tuning external electric fields. Ultrafast flipping electron spin leads to a quantum side jump in the topological insulator, and a snake-orbit motion in two-dimensional electron gas with spin-orbit interactions. This feature provides a way to control electron orbital motion by manipulating electron spin.