Topological-Berry-phase-induced spin torque current in a two-dimensional system with generic $k$-linear spin-orbit interaction

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the Berry phase influences the spin torque current in two-dimensional systems with generic $k$-linear spin-orbit interactions, revealing a universal, topologically protected spin torque Hall current proportional to the Berry phase.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the spin torque Hall current is proportional to the Berry phase and remains invariant under small fluctuations and orientation changes, providing a universal description for $k$-linear systems.

Findings

The spin torque Hall current is proportional to the Berry phase.

The magnitude of the spin torque current is protected by the Berry phase against fluctuations.

The spin torque current is a universal property of all $k$-linear systems like Rashba and Dresselhaus.

Abstract

The Berry phase on the Fermi surface and its influence on the conserved spin current in a two-dimensional system with generic $k$-linear spin-orbit interaction are investigated. We calculate the response of the effective conserved spin current to the applied electric field, which is composed of conventional and spin torque currents, by using the Kubo formula. We find that the conventional spin current is not determined by the Berry phase effect. Remarkably, the spin torque Hall current is found to be proportional to the Berry phase, and the longitudinal spin torque current vanishes because of the Berry phase effect. When the $k$-linear spin-orbit interaction dominates the system, the Berry phase on the Fermi surface maintains two invariant properties. One is that the magnitude of the spin torque current protected by the Berry phase is unchanged by a small fluctuation of energy dispersion. The other one is that the change in the direction of the applied electric field does not change the magnitude of the spin torque current even if the energy dispersion is not spherically symmetric; i.e., the Berry phase effect has no dependence on the two-dimensional material orientation. The spin torque current is a universal value for all $k$-linear systems, such as Rashba, Dresselhaus, and Rashba-Dresselhaus systems. The topological number attributed to the Berry phase on the Fermi surface represents the phase of the orbital chirality of spin in the $k$-linear system. The change in the topological number results in a phase transition in which the orbital chirality of spin $s_z$ and $-s_z$ is exchanged. We found that the spin torque current can be experimentally measured.