Spin responses and effective Hamiltonian for the two dimensional electron gas at oxide interface {LaAlO}$_3$/{SrTiO}$_3$

Jianhui Zhou, Wen-Yu Shan, Di Xiao

Published 2015-04-09Version 1

The strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the oxide interface $\mathrm{LaAlO_{3}/SrTiO_{3}}$ underlies a variety of exotic physics, but its nature is still under debate. We derive an effective Hamiltonian for the 2DEG at the oxide interface $\mathrm{LaAlO_{3}/SrTiO_{3}}$ and find a new anisotropic Rashba SOC for the $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals. This anisotropic Rashba SOC leads to anisotropic static spin susceptibilities and also distinctive behavior of the spin Hall conductivity. These unique spin responses may be used to determine the nature of the Rashba SOC experimentally and shed new light on the orbital origin of the 2DEG.