Predicted signatures of the intrinsic spin Hall effect in closed systems

Abstract

We study a two-dimensional electron system in the presence of spin-orbit interaction. It is shown analytically that the spin-orbit interaction acts as a transversal effective electric field, whose orientation depends on the sign of the $\hat{z}$-axis spin projection. This effect doesn't require any driving external field and is inherent to the spin-orbit interactions present in semiconductor materials. Therefore, it should manifest in both closed and open systems. It is proposed an experiment to observe the intrinsic spin Hall effect in the far infrared absorption of an asymmetric semiconductor nanostructure.