Coulomb Drag and Spin Coulomb Drag in the presence of Spin-orbit Coupling

Wang-Kong Tse, S. Das Sarma

Published 2006-08-31Version 1

Employing diagrammatic perturbation theory, we calculate the (charge) Coulomb drag resistivity $\rho_D$ and spin Coulomb drag resistivity $\rho_{\uparrow\downarrow}$ in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Analytical expressions for $\rho_D$ and $\rho_{\uparrow\downarrow}$ are derived, and it is found that spin-orbit interaction produces a small enhancement to $\rho_D$ and $\rho_{\uparrow\downarrow}$ in the ballistic regime while $\rho_D$ is unchanged in the diffusive regime. This enhancement in the ballistic regime is attributed to the enhancement of the nonlinear susceptibility (i.e. current produced through the rectification of the thermal electric potential fluctuations in the passive layer) while the lack of enhancement in the diffusive regime is due to the suppression by disorder.