Spin Hall effect and zitterbewegung in an electron waveguide

TL;DR

This paper investigates spin-dependent electron distributions in a waveguide with spin-orbit interaction, revealing zitterbewegung patterns, spin Hall effects, and internal spin accumulation patterns arising from coherent electron states.

Contribution

It predicts zitterbewegung and spin Hall effects in electron waveguides, linking them to a common mechanism involving coherent electron states.

Findings

Prediction of zitterbewegung in probability distributions

Observation of spin Hall effect with edge spin accumulation

Discovery of internal stripe patterns of spin accumulation

Abstract

We study spin-resolved probability distributions for electrons in a multichannel waveguide in the presence of a spin-orbit interaction. For a spin-polarized electron injection, a zitterbewegung pattern is predicted in the probability distribution of electrons in the waveguide. For a spin-unpolarized injection, the spin-resolved electron probability in the waveguide shows spin accumulations. In addition to the spin Hall phenomenon, namely accumulations of opposite spins at the lateral edges of the waveguide, we predict the existence of a regular stripe pattern of spin accumulations in the internal region of the waveguide. We show that the predicted zitterbewegung and spin Hall effect stem from the same mechanism and are formed from coherent states of electrons in the waveguide.