Semiclassical spin transport in LaO/STO system in the presence of multiple Rashba spin orbit couplings

TL;DR

This paper investigates how multiple Rashba spin-orbit couplings influence spin transport in LaO/STO, revealing that their interplay can optimize spin charge conversion efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of linear and cubic Rashba spin-orbit couplings' effects on spin transport in LaO/STO using advanced scattering models.

Findings

Linear and quadratic relationships between spin accumulation and RSOC strengths.

Multiple RSOC types break Fermi surface symmetry, enabling finite spin accumulation.

Predicted spin charge conversion efficiency of up to 30%.

Abstract

The interaction between the linear and cubic spin-orbit coupling with magnetic moments and mobile spin-polarized carriers in the LaO/STO system provides new avenues for spin transport applications. We study the interplay between linear and cubic Rashba spin orbit coupling (RSOC) on in-plane magnetic moments in the LaO/STO system using the Boltzmann transport theory based on the relaxation time approximation (RTA) and the more refined Schliemann-Loss (SL) delta-potential scattering model. In general, both methods yield a linear (quadratic) relationship between the spin accumulation (spin current) when one of the three RSOC strengths is varied and the other two fixed. The simultaneous presence of multiple types of RSOC with distinct angular dependences is a key ingredient in breaking the k-space symmetry of the Fermi surface, thus ensuring a finite spin accumulation upon integration over the entire Fermi surface. While the oft-used RTA method is sufficiently accurate for spin accumulation calculations, the more refined SL model is required for spin current calculations because the RTA method neglects the anisotropy of the Fermi contour arising from the cubic RSOC terms. Based on the refined SL model and under optimal tuning of the RSOC parameters, the spin charge conversion values in LaO/STO is predicted to reach a remarkable efficiency of 30.