Magnus spin Hall and spin Nernst effects in gapped 2D Rashba systems

Abstract

We study the Magnus transport in a gapped 2D electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling using semiclassical Boltzmann transport formalism. Apart from its signature in the charge transport coefficients, the inclusion of Magnus velocity in the spin current operator enables us to study Magnus spin transport in the system. In particular, we study the roles of mass gap and Fermi surface topology on the behavior of Magnus Hall and Nernst conductivities and their spin counterparts. We find that the Magnus spin Hall conductivity vanishes in the limit of zero gap, unlike the universal spin Hall conductivity $\sigma_s=e/(8\pi)$. The Magnus spin currents with spin polarization perpendicular to the applied bias (electrical/thermal) are finite while with polarization along the bias vanishes. Each Magnus conductivity displays a plateau as Fermi energy sweeps through the gap and has peaks (whose magnitudes decrease with the gap) when the Fermi energy is at the gap edges.