Abstract
We present the transfer of the spatially variant polarization of topologically structured light to the spatial spin texture in a semiconductor quantum well. The electron spin texture, which is a circular pattern with repeating spin-up and spin-down states whose repetition rate is determined by the topological charge, is directly excited by a vector vortex beam with a spatial helicity structure. The generated spin texture efficiently evolves into a helical spin wave pattern owing to the spin-orbit effective magnetic fields in the persistent spin helix state by controlling the spatial wave number of the excited spin mode. By tuning the repetition length and azimuthal angle, we simultaneously generate helical spin waves with opposite phases by a single beam.
- Received 27 September 2022
- Revised 17 January 2023
- Accepted 13 February 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.126701
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Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Focus
Beaming in a Spin Texture
Published 24 March 2023
Researchers use an optical vortex beam to create a stable pattern of electron spins in a thin layer of semiconductor material.
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