Charge and spin density modulations in semiconductor quantum wires

TL;DR

This paper studies how charge and spin densities oscillate along a semiconductor quantum wire with spin-orbit coupling, providing theoretical insights into their patterns and experimental observability.

Contribution

It introduces a coherent scattering theory approach to analyze charge and spin density modulations in quantum wires with spin-orbit coupling.

Findings

Oscillatory charge and spin density patterns are identified.

Symmetry of eigenstates explains the oscillations.

Conditions for experimental observation are discussed.

Abstract

We investigate static charge and spin density modulation patterns along a ferromagnet/semiconductor single junction quantum wire in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. Coherent scattering theory is used to calculate the charge and spin densities in the ballistic regime. The observed oscillatory behavior is explained in terms of the symmetry of the charge and spin distributions of eigenstates in the semiconductor quantum wire. Also, we discuss the condition that these charge and spin density oscillations can be observed experimentally.