Spin current generation from Coulomb-Rashba interaction in semiconductor bilayers

M. M. Glazov, M. A. Semina, S. M. Badalyan, G. Vignale

Published 2011-02-07, updated 2011-05-03Version 2

Electrons in double-layer semiconductor heterostructures experience a special type of spin-orbit interaction which arises in each layer from the perpendicular component of the Coulomb electric field created by electron density fluctuations in the other layer. We show that this interaction, acting in combination with the usual spin-orbit interaction, can generate a spin current in one layer when a charge current is driven in the other. This effect is symmetry-wise distinct from the spin Hall drag. The spin current is not, in general, perpendicular to the drive current.