Numerical simulation of Rashba spin–orbit coupling effect on quantum Hall resistivity within tight-binding approximation

Abstract

A numerical simulation of the effect of Rashba spin–orbit coupling (RSO) on quantum transport properties of electrons confined to a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the integer quantum Hall regime is presented. The mechanism of quantization and the dependence of the Hall resistivity (HR) on the system built-in and external parameters are studied using the non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) technique. Relevant Green’s functions are computed numerically using spectral decomposition method in combination with recursive techniques. The tight-binding-like representation of the system Hamiltonian including magnetic field is obtained within the finite difference method, using Dirichlet boundary conditions. Corresponding formula linking the Hall resistivity with the transmission function of the system has been derived analytically within the NEGF formalism in a general form, in the sense that the formula can also be used beyond the linear response limit and for nonzero temperatures. In particular, it was shown explicitly that in the presence of the RSO coupling the even- and odd plateaus emerging in the magnetic-field dependence of the quantum Hall resistivity are related to different physical mechanisms.