Strong electron spin-Hall effect by a coherent optical potential

Abstract

We demonstrate theoretically that a coherent manipulation of electron spins in low-dimensional semiconductor structures with spin-orbit coupling by infrared radiation is possible. The proposed approach is based on using a dipole force acting on a two-level system in a nonuniform optical field, similar to that employed in the design of the cold atoms diode. For ballistic electrons the spin-dependent force, proportional to the intensity of external radiation, leads to a spin-Hall effect and resulting spin separation even if the spin-orbit coupling itself does not allow for these effects. Achievable spatial separation of electrons with opposite spins can be of the order of several tenth of a micron, an order of magnitude larger than can be produced by the charged impurity scattering in the diffusive regime.