Semiclassical study of edge states and transverse electron focusing for strong spin-orbit coupling

TL;DR

This paper investigates edge states and transverse electron focusing in a 2D electron gas with strong spin-orbit coupling, deriving semiclassical quantization conditions and comparing analytical predictions with quantum calculations.

Contribution

It introduces a semiclassical framework for understanding edge states and focusing spectra in systems with strong spin-orbit interaction, linking classical and quantum descriptions.

Findings

Certain focusing spectrum features explained by edge state interference

Analytical results align well with quantum calculations for some features

Some spectrum features require alternative explanations

Abstract

We studied the edge states and transverse electron focusing in the presence of spin-orbit interaction in a two dimensional electron gas. Assuming strong spin-orbit coupling we derived semiclassical quantization conditions to describe the dispersion of the edge states. Using the dispersion relation we then make predictions about certain properties of the focusing spectrum. Comparison of our analytical results with quantum mechanical transport calculations reveals that certain features of the focusing spectrum can be quite well understood in terms of the interference of the edge states while the explanation of other features seems to require a different approach.