Interplay between quantum dissipation and an in-plane magnetic field in the spin ratchet effect

Sergey Smirnov, Dario Bercioux, Milena Grifoni, and Klaus Richter
Phys. Rev. B 78, 245323 – Published 29 December 2008

Abstract

We investigate the existence of the pure spin ratchet effect in a dissipative quasi-one-dimensional system with Rashba spin-orbit interaction. The system is additionally placed into a transverse uniform stationary in-plane magnetic field. It is shown that the effect exists at low temperatures and pure spin currents can be generated by applying an unbiased ac driving to the system. An analytical expression for the ratchet spin current is derived. From this expression it follows that the spin ratchet effect appears as a result of the simultaneous presence of the spin-orbit interaction, coupling between the orbital degrees of freedom and spatial asymmetry. In this paper we consider the case of a broken spatial symmetry by virtue of asymmetric periodic potentials. It turns out that an external magnetic field does not have any impact on the existence of the spin ratchet effect but it influences its efficiency, enhancing or reducing the magnitude of the spin current.

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  • Received 20 August 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.78.245323

©2008 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Sergey Smirnov1, Dario Bercioux2, Milena Grifoni1, and Klaus Richter1

  • 1Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany
  • 2Physikalisches Institut and Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, Universität Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 78, Iss. 24 — 15 December 2008

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