Inverse Spin Hall Effect and Anomalous Hall Effect in a Two-Dimensional Electron Gas

TL;DR

This paper investigates how spin and charge currents interact in a 2D electron gas with broken inversion symmetry, revealing that Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit couplings lead to distinct spin Hall and anomalous Hall effects, aligning with recent experiments.

Contribution

It demonstrates that in 2D electron gases with Rashba spin-orbit coupling, the spin Hall, inverse spin Hall, and anomalous Hall effects are fundamentally different, contrasting with systems with inversion symmetry.

Findings

The effects are substantially different in systems with broken inversion symmetry.

Results agree with recent experimental observations.

The study clarifies the relationship between spin and charge transport in such systems.

Abstract

We study the coupled dynamics of spin and charge currents in a two-dimensional electron gas in the transport diffusive regime. For systems with inversion symmetry there are established relations between the spin Hall effect, the anomalous Hall effect and the inverse spin Hall effect. However, in two-dimensional electron gases of semiconductors like GaAs, inversion symmetry is broken so that the standard arguments do not apply. We demonstrate that in the presence of a Rashba type of spin-orbit coupling (broken structural inversion symmetry) the anomalous Hall effect, the spin Hall and inverse spin Hall effect are substantially different effects. Furthermore we discuss the inverse spin Hall effect for a two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling; our results agree with a recent experiment.