Nonlinear spin Hall effect in GaAs (110) quantum wells

Abstract

We consider stationary spin current in a (110)-oriented GaAs-based symmetric quantum well due to a nonlinear response to an external periodic electric field. The model assumed includes the Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction and the random Rashba spin-orbit coupling. The Dresselhaus term is uniform in the quantum well plane and gives rise to spin splitting of the electron band. The external electric field of frequency $\omega$ - in the presence of random Rashba coupling -- leads to virtual spin-flip transitions between spin subbands, generating stationary pure spin current proportional to the square of the field amplitude.