Dissipationless Circulating Currents and Fringe Magnetic Fields Near a Single Spin Embedded in a Two-Dimensional Electron Gas

TL;DR

This paper predicts dissipationless circulating currents near a single spin in a 2D electron gas with spin-orbit coupling, which can be manipulated electrically and used to measure spin-orbit fields and defect spin orientation.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical model for circulating currents induced by a spin defect, showing how their shape depends on spin-orbit coupling and can be used for nanoscale magnetic sensing.

Findings

Circulating currents depend on spin-orbit field strengths.

Magnetic field structure reveals spin-orbit characteristics.

Potential for electric control of nanoscale magnetic fields.

Abstract

Theoretical calculations predict the dissipationless circulating current induced by a spin defect in a two-dimensional electron gas with spin-orbit coupling. The shape and spatial extent of these dissipationless circulating currents depend dramatically on the relative strengths of spin-orbit fields with differing spatial symmetry, offering the potential to use an electric gate to manipulate nanoscale magnetic fields and couple magnetic defects. The spatial structure of the magnetic field produced by this current is calculated and provides a direct way to measure the spin-orbit fields of the host, as well as the defect spin orientation, \textit{e.g.} through scanning nanoscale magnetometry.