Spin Accumulation in the Extrinsic Spin Hall Effect

TL;DR

This paper extends the drift-diffusion model to include spin-orbit coupling, analyzing how it affects spin accumulation and diffusion in the extrinsic spin Hall effect with realistic boundary conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a generalized formalism for spin-polarized transport that accounts for spin-orbit coupling and boundary effects in the extrinsic spin Hall effect.

Findings

Carrier and spin diffusion lengths are altered by spin-orbit coupling.

Spin accumulation is significantly influenced by boundary conditions.

Provides analytical formulas for spin-dependent recombination and densities.

Abstract

The drift-diffusion formalism for spin-polarized carrier transport in semiconductors is generalized to include spin-orbit coupling. The theory is applied to treat the extrinsic spin Hall effect using realistic boundary conditions. It is shown that carrier and spin diffusion lengths are modified by the presence of spin-orbit coupling and that spin accumulation due to the extrinsic spin Hall effect is strongly and qualitatively influenced by boundary conditions. Analytical formulas for the spin-dependent carrier recombination rates and inhomogeneous spin densities and currents are presented.