Work

Nonlinear spin to charge conversion in mesoscopic structures

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Motivated by recent experiments [I. J. Vera-Marun, V. Ranjan, and B. J. van Wees, Nat. Phys. 8, 313 (2012)], we formulate a nonlinear theory of spin transport in quantum coherent conductors. We show how a mesoscopic constriction with energy-dependent transmission can convert a spin current injected by a spin accumulation into an electric signal, relying neither on magnetic nor exchange fields. When the transmission through the constriction is spin independent, the spin-charge coupling is nonlinear, with an electric signal that is quadratic in the accumulation. We estimate that gated mesoscopic constrictions have a sensitivity that allows to detect accumulations much smaller than a percent of the Fermi energy.

Source: Physical Review B

DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.85.241301

Authors: Peter Stano, Jaroslav Fabian, Philippe Jacquod

Institutions: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, University of Regensburg, University of Geneva, University of Arizona

Language: English

Topic: Quantum and electron transport phenomena

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Science Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agentúra na Podporu Výskumu a Vývoja, Division of Materials Research

Awards: Coherence, Noise and Cross-Correlations in Nanosystems, G4112467118, Zložitosť a kvantová informácia, G6850543347, G738339573