No Arabic abstract
In model studies of the spin/anomalous Hall effect, effective Hamiltonians often serve as the starting point. However, a complete effective quantum theory contains not only the effective Hamiltonian but also the relation linking the physical observables to the canonical ones. We construct the semiclassical Boltzmann (SB) transport framework in the weak disorder-potential regime directly in the level of the effective quantum theory, and confirm this construction by formulating a generalized Kohn-Luttinger density matrix transport theory also in this level. The link and difference between the present SB theory and previous phenomenological Boltzmann, quantum kinetic and usual Kubo-Streda theories are clarified. We also present the slightly generalized Kubo-Streda formula in the level of the effective quantum theory. In this level, it is the generalized Kubo-Streda formula rather than the usual one that leads to the same physical interpretations as the present SB theory. In the application to a Rashba 2D effective model, a nonzero spin Hall effect important in the case of strong Rashba coupling but neglected in previous theories is found.
We compare a fully quantum mechanical numerical calculation of the conductivity of graphene to the semiclassical Boltzmann theory. Considering a disorder potential that is smooth on the scale of the lattice spacing, we find quantitative agreement between the two approaches away from the Dirac point. At the Dirac point the two theories are incompatible at weak disorder, although they may be compatible for strong disorder. Our numerical calculations provide a quantitative description of the full crossover between the quantum and semiclassical graphene transport regimes.
We develop a Boltzmann transport theory of coupled magnon-phonon transport in ferromagnetic insulators. The explicit treatment of the magnon-phonon coupling within the Boltzmann approach allows us to calculate the low-temperature magnetic-field dependence of the spin-Seebeck voltage. Within the Boltzmann theory we find that this magnetic field dependence shows similar features as found by Flebus et al. [Phys. Rev. B 95, 144420 (2017)] for a strongly coupled magnon phonon system that forms magnon-polarons, and consistent with experimental findings in yttrium iron garnet by Kikkawa et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 207203 (2016)]. In addition to the anomalous magnetic-field dependence of the spin Seebeck effect, we also predict a dependence on the system size.
In the absence of an external field, the Rashba spin-orbit interaction (SOI) in a two-dimensional electron gas in a semiconductor quantum well arises entirely from the screened electrostatic potential of ionized donors. We adjust the wave functions of a quantum well so that electrons occupying the first (lowest) subband conserve their spin projection along the growth axis (Sz), while the electrons occupying the second subband precess due to Rashba SOI. Such a specially designed quantum well may be used as a spin relaxation trigger: electrons conserve Sz when the applied voltage (or current) is lower than a certain threshold V*; higher voltage switches on the Dyakonov-Perel spin relaxation.
Using $vec{k}$$cdot$$vec{p}$ theory, we derive an effective four band model describing the physics of the typical two-dimensional topological insulator (HgTe/CdTe quantum well) in the presence of out-of-plane in z-direction inversion breaking and in-plane confining potentials. We find that up to third order in perturbation theory, only the inversion breaking potential generates new elements to the four band Hamiltonian that are off-diagonal in spin space. When this new effective Hamiltonian is folded into an effective two band model for the conduction (electron) or valence (heavy hole) bands, two competing terms appear: (1) a Rashba spin-orbit interaction originating from inversion breaking potential in z-direction and (2) an in-plane Pauli term as a consequence of the in-plane confining potential. Spin transport in the conduction band is further analysed within the Landauer-Buttiker formalism. We find that for asymmetrically doped HgTe quantum wells, the behaviour of the spin-Hall conductance is dominated by the Rashba term.
We study the effects caused by Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling over the thermoelectric transport properties of a single-electron transistor, viz., a quantum dot connected to one-dimensional leads. Using linear response theory and employing the numerical renormalization group method, we calculate the thermopower, electrical and thermal conductances, dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit, and study the Wiedemann-Franz law, showing their temperature maps. Our results for all those properties indicate that spin-orbit coupling drives the system into the Kondo regime. We show that the thermoelectric transport properties, in the presence of spin-orbit coupling, obey the expected universality of the Kondo strong coupling fixed point. In addition, our results show a notable increase in the thermoelectric figure of merit, caused by the spin-orbit coupling in the one-dimensional quantum dot leads.