Nuclear Spin Relaxation in Rashba Nanowires

TL;DR

This paper investigates how nuclear spin relaxation rates in Rashba nanowires are affected by magnetic fields, electron interactions, and spin-orbit coupling, revealing characteristic peaks linked to band singularities.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of nuclear spin relaxation in Rashba nanowires, highlighting the influence of van Hove singularities and distinguishing regimes of weak and strong spin-orbit interactions.

Findings

Relaxation rate exhibits peaks at specific magnetic fields and chemical potentials.

Number of peaks indicates the strength of spin-orbit interaction.

Magnetic field dependence varies with band occupancy.

Abstract

We study the nuclear spin relaxation in a ballistic nanowire with hyperfine and Rashba spin-orbit interactions (SOI) and in the presence of magnetic field and electron interactions. The relaxation rate shows pronounced peaks as function of magnetic field and chemical potential due to van Hove singularities in the Rashba bands. As a result, the regimes of weak and strong SOIs can be distinguished by the number of peaks in the rate. The relaxation rate increases with increasing magnetic field if both Rashba subbands are occupied, whereas it decreases if only the lowest one is occupied.