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Driving a pure spin current from nuclear-polarization gradients
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Driving a pure spin current from nuclear-polarization gradients

Nicholas J Harmon and Michael E Flatté
Physical review. B, Vol.106(5), 054207
08/25/2022
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.106.054207

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Abstract

A pure spin current is predicted to occur when an external magnetic field and a linearly inhomogeneous spin-only field are appropriately aligned. Under these conditions (such as originate from nuclear contact hyperfine fields that do not affect orbital motion) a linear, spin-dependent dispersion for free electrons emerges from the Landau Hamiltonian. The result is that spins of opposite orientation flow in opposite directions giving rise to a pure spin current. A classical model of the spin and charge dynamics reveals intuitive aspects of the full quantum mechanical solution. We propose optical orientation or electrical polarization experiments to demonstrate this outcome.
Physics - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

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