Strain Engineering of the Intrinsic Spin Hall Conductivity in a SrTiO$_3$ Quantum Well

Abstract

The intrinsic spin Hall conductivity of a two-dimensional gas confined to SrTiO$_3$, such as occurs at an LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface, is calculated from the Kubo formula. The effect of strain in the [001] (normal to the quantum well direction) and the [111] direction is incorporated into a full tight-binding Hamiltonian. We show that the spin-charge conversion ratio can be significantly altered through strain and gate voltage by tuning the chemical potential. Strain direction is also a significant factor in the spin Hall response as this direction affects the alignment of the conduction bands.