Abstract
We identify theoretically the geometric phases of the electrons' spinor that can be detected in measurements of charge and spin transport through Aharonov-Bohm interferometers threaded by a magnetic flux (in units of the flux quantum) where Rashba spin-orbit and Zeeman interactions are active. We show that the combined effect of these two interactions produces a [in addition to the usual ] dependence of the magnetoconductance, whose amplitude is proportional to the Zeeman field. Therefore, although the magnetoconductance is an even function of the magnetic field, it is not a periodic function of it, and the widely used concept of a phase shift in the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, as indicated in previous work, is not applicable. We find the directions of the spin polarizations in the system and show that in general (even without the Zeeman term) the spin currents are not conserved, implying the generation of magnetization in the terminals attached to the interferometer.
- Received 21 August 2019
- Revised 8 September 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.1.033112
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.
Published by the American Physical Society