Electric-field driven long-lived spin excitations on a cylindrical surface with spin-orbit interaction

Abstract

Based on quantum-kinetic equations, coupled spin-charge drift-diffusion equations are derived for a two-dimensional electron gas on a cylindrical surface. Besides the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction, the elastic scattering on impurities, and a constant electric field are taken into account. From the solution of the drift-diffusion equations, a long-lived spin excitation is identified for spins coupled to the Rashba term on a cylinder with a given radius. The electric-field driven weakly damped spin waves are manifest in the components of the magnetization and have the potential for non-ballistic spin-device applications.