Spin-Current-Induced Charge Accumulation and Electric Current in Semiconductor Nanostructures with Rashba Spin-Orbit Coupling

Jian Li, Shun-Qing Shen

Published 2007-01-15, updated 2007-10-15Version 2

We demonstrate that the flow of a longitudinal spin current with different spin polarization will induce different patterns of charge accumulation in a two-terminal strip, or electric current distribution in a four-terminal Hall-bar structure, of two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC). For an in-plane polarized spin current, charges will accumulate either by the two lateral edges or around the center of the strip structure while, for an out-of-plain polarized spin current, charge densities will show opposite signs by the two lateral edges leading to a Hall voltage. Our calculation offers a new route to experimentally detect or differentiate pure spin currents with various spin polarization.