Curved One-Dimensional Wire as a Spin Rotator.pdf

a r X i v : c o n d - m a t / 0 5 0 5 1 0 4 v 3 [ c o n d - m a t .m e s - h a l l ] 2 8 S e p 2 0 0 5 Curved One-Dimensional Wire as a Spin Rotator Maxim P. Trushin and Alexander L. Chudnovskiy 1. Institut fu?r Theoretische Physik, Universita?t Hamburg, Jungiusstr 9, D-20355 Hamburg, Germany (Dated: February 2, 2008) We propose a semiconductor structure that can rotate the electron spin without using ferromag- netic contacts, tunneling barriers, external radiation etc. The structure consists of a strongly curved one-dimensional ballistic wire with intrinsic spin-orbit interactions of Rashba type. Our calculations and analytical formulae show that the proposed device can redistribute the current densities between the two spin-split modes without backscattering and, thus, serve as a reflectionless and high-speed spin switcher. Using parameters relevant for InAs we investigate the projection of current den- sity spin polarization on the spin-quantization axis as a function of the Rashba constant, external magnetic field, and radius of the wire’s curvature. PACS numbers: 73.63.Nm I. INTRODUCTION In the past few years the idea to use electron spin in mesoscopic semiconductor devices has generated a lot of interest. Datta and Das1 describe how Rashba effect2 (with the assistance of spin-filtering contacts) can be used to modulate the current. The basic idea is that the spin precession can be controlled via Rashba spin-orbit cou- pling associated with the interfacial electric field present in the quantum well that contains a two-dimensional elec- tron gas. One of the most promising materials for this purpose is the InAs semiconductors, where the tuning of the Rashba coupling by an external gate voltage was recently achieved by Grundler3 and Matsuyama et al.4 The schematic of the “conventional” spin-rotator based on Rashba effect is depicted in Fig. 1a. The straight quantum wire (or just a two-dimensional stripe) is di- vided into three regions. In the middle regio