Emergence of the Persistent Spin Helix in Semiconductor Quantum Wells
According to Noether's theorem, for every symmetry in nature there is a corresponding conservation law. For example, invariance with respect to spatial translation corresponds to conservation of momentum. In another well-known example, invariance with respect to rotation of the electron's spin, or SU(2) symmetry, leads to conservation of spin polarization. For electrons in a solid, this symmetry is ordinarily broken by spin-orbit (SO) coupling, allowing spin angular momentum to flow to orbital angular momentum. However, it has recently been predicted that SU(2) can be recovered in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), despite the presence of SO coupling. The corresponding conserved quantities include the amplitude and phase of a helical spin density wave termed the 'persistent spin helix' (PSH). SU(2) is restored, in principle, when the strength of two dominant SO interactions, the Rashba ({alpha}) and linear Dresselhaus ({beta}{sub 1}), are equal. This symmetry is predicted to be robust against all forms of spin-independent scattering, including electron-electron interactions, but is broken by the cubic Dresselhaus term ({beta}{sub 3}) and spin-dependent scattering. When these terms are negligible, the distance over which spin information can propagate is predicted to diverge as {alpha} {yields} {beta}{sub 1}. Here we observe experimentally the emergence of the PSH in GaAs quantum wells (QW's) by independently tuning {alpha} and {beta}{sub 1}. Using transient spin-grating spectroscopy (TSG), we find a spin-lifetime enhancement of two orders of magnitude near the symmetry point. Excellent quantitative agreement with theory across a wide range of sample parameters allows us to obtain an absolute measure of all relevant SO terms, identifying {beta}{sub 3} as the main SU(2) violating term in our samples. The tunable suppression of spin-relaxation demonstrated in this work is well-suited for application to spintronics.
- Research Organization:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515
- OSTI ID:
- 1023232
- Report Number(s):
- SLAC-PUB-13935; TRN: US1104381
- Journal Information:
- Nature 258:610-613,2009, Journal Name: Nature 258:610-613,2009
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
AMPLITUDES
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
CONSERVATION LAWS
ELECTRON GAS
ELECTRON-ELECTRON INTERACTIONS
ELECTRONS
ORBITAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM
POLARIZATION
QUANTUM WELLS
ROTATION
SCATTERING
SPECTROSCOPY
SPIN
SYMMETRY
TRANSIENTS
TUNING
MATSCI