Shekhter R I, Entin-Wohlman O, Jonson M, Aharony A
Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
Phys Rev Lett. 2022 Jul 15;129(3):037704. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.037704.
The spin-orbit interaction (SOI) is a key tool for manipulating and functionalizing spin-dependent electron transport. The desired function often depends on the SOI-generated phase that is accumulated by the wave function of an electron as it passes through the device. This phase, known as the Aharonov-Casher phase, therefore depends on both the device geometry and the SOI strength. Here, we propose a method for directly measuring the Aharonov-Casher phase generated in an SOI-active weak link, based on the Aharonov-Casher-phase dependent anisotropy of its magnetoconductance. Specifically, we consider weak links in which the Rashba interaction is caused by an external electric field, but our method is expected to apply also for other forms of the spin-orbit coupling. Measuring this magnetoconductance anisotropy thus allows calibrating Rashba spintronic devices by an external electric field that tunes the spin-orbit interaction and hence the Aharonov-Casher phase.
自旋轨道相互作用（SOI）是操纵和功能化自旋相关电子输运的关键工具。所需功能通常取决于由电子波函数在穿过器件时积累的SOI产生的相位。这个相位，即阿哈罗诺夫 - 卡什尔相位，因此取决于器件几何形状和SOI强度。在此，我们基于其磁电导的阿哈罗诺夫 - 卡什尔相位相关各向异性，提出了一种直接测量在SOI有源弱链接中产生的阿哈罗诺夫 - 卡什尔相位的方法。具体而言，我们考虑了其中Rashba相互作用由外部电场引起的弱链接，但我们的方法预计也适用于其他形式的自旋轨道耦合。测量这种磁电导各向异性从而允许通过调节自旋轨道相互作用进而调节阿哈罗诺夫 - 卡什尔相位的外部电场来校准Rashba自旋电子器件。
