Abstract
Investigations of quantum dots yield information about the properties of semiconductors on the smallest scales. Researchers show that quantum dots can exhibit an orbital ferromagnet phase due to the interplay of strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling and Coulomb interactions.
Highlights
The electronic properties of few-electron quantum dots in semiconductor nanostructures have been widely studied over the past few decades [1,2,3]
We study interacting few-electron quantum dots in the regime of large Rashba spin-orbit coupling α ≫ 1
In the absence of a magnetic field but with strong spin-orbit coupling, already weak interactions can induce a transition to an orbital ferromagnet, where a large magnetization is present and the electrons in the dot carry a circulating charge current
Summary
The electronic properties of few-electron quantum dots in semiconductor nanostructures have been widely studied over the past few decades [1,2,3]. Because of the confinement-induced reduction of quantum fluctuations, the corresponding electron densities near the transition are much higher than the one required for bulk Wigner-crystal formation [3] Another modification of the 2D oscillator spectrum is caused by spin-orbit coupling. We study interacting few-electron quantum dots in the regime of large Rashba spin-orbit coupling α ≫ 1. The conspiracy of a single-particle potential with sufficiently strong Coulomb interactions can induce two-particle umklapp processes destroying the helical edge state [43,44] Motivated by these developments, we here study the ground state of interacting electrons in a quantum dot with strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling. The HF results show qualitatively the same effects, indicating that orbital ferromagnetism represents the generic behavior of weakly interacting electrons in quantum dots with ultrastrong Rashba coupling. Additional details about the α → ∞ limit are given in the Appendix
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