A proposal for the measurement of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction strengths in a single sample

TL;DR

This paper presents an exact analytical method to measure Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction strengths in a single sample by analyzing persistent spin current, revealing a symmetry where the spin current vanishes when the two strengths are equal.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analytical approach leveraging hidden symmetry to determine spin-orbit interaction strengths from persistent spin current measurements.

Findings

Spin current vanishes when Rashba equals Dresselhaus strength.

Method remains valid even with disorder.

Provides a new way to measure spin-orbit interactions in experiments.

Abstract

We establish an exact analytical treatment for the determination of the strengths of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions in a single sample by measuring persistent spin current. A hidden symmetry is exploited in the Hamiltonian to show that the spin current vanishes when the strength of the Dresselhaus interaction becomes equal to the strength of the Rashba term. The results are sustained even in the presence of disorder and thus an experiment in this regard will be challenging.