Edge spin accumulation in 2D electron and hole systems in a quasi-ballistic regime

Alexander Khaetskii

Published 2014-01-29Version 1

We consider a two-dimensional structure with spin-orbit-related splitting of the electron (hole) spectrum and calculate the edge spin density which appears due to the intrinsic mechanism of spin-orbit interaction in the presence of a charge current through the structure. We concentrate on the quasi-ballistic case when a mean free path, being much smaller than the sample size, is larger than the spin precession length determined by the value of the spin-orbit splitting. We show that regardless of the presence or absence of the bulk spin current the main source of the edge spin density is the boundary scattering itself. The character of the edge spin density depends on the smoothness of the bulk impurity potential. We have calculated the edge spin density profile for an arbitrary smoothness of the scattering potential in the bulk, and discussed relation to the existing experiments for two-dimensional holes.