Image-potential-induced spin-orbit interaction in one-dimensional electron systems

Yasha Gindikin, Vladimir A. Sablikov

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

We study the spin-orbit interaction effects in a one-dimensional electron system that result from the image charges in a nearby metallic gate. The nontrivial property of the image-potential-induced spin-orbit interaction (iSOI) is that it directly depends on the electron density because of which a positive feedback arises between the electron density and the iSOI magnitude. As a result, the system becomes unstable against the density fluctuations under certain conditions. In addition, the iSOI contributes to the electron-electron interaction giving rise to strong changes in electron correlations and collective excitation spectra. We trace the evolution of the spectrum of the collective excitations and their spin-charge structures with the change in the iSOI parameter. One out of two collective modes softens as the iSOI amplitude grows to become unstable at its critical value. Interestingly, this mode evolves from a pure spin excitation to a pure charge one. At the critical point its velocity turns to zero together with the charge stiffness.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number045138
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume95
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 25 2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was partially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 17-02-00309) and the Russian Academy of Sciences

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Physical Society.

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