Magnetic-field-induced spin texture in a quantum wire with linear Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling

Abstract

A quantum wire with strong Rashba spin-orbit interaction is known to exhibit a so-called spin texturing effect in presence of a moderate external magnetic field acting transverse to the wire axis and parallel to the symmetry-breaking ``gate'' electric field causing Rashba interaction. This effect typically disappears when the external magnetic field is made stronger than the effective spin-orbit magnetic field due to the Rashba interaction. In this work, we present a detailed study of the spin texturing phenomenon in a quantum wire with strong linear Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction and an external transverse magnetic field. Unlike the pure Rashba case, we observe a persistent spin texture even in the limit when the external magnetic field is large and much stronger than the effective spin-orbit magnetic field due to Dresselhaus interaction. Magnetic field dependence of spin texture is therefore an experimentally viable method for identifying the dominant spin-orbit interaction in a zinc-blende quantum wire. We show that the local distribution of the spin density can be modulated by spin-orbit coupling strength, magnetic field, and the Fermi level of the electron gas.