Position-dependent temporal behavior of spin states in a Rashba–Dresselhaus nanoloop

Abstract

In this paper we study the spin states populations, as functions of time, for electrons in a quasi-1D Rashba–Dresselhaus quantum loop, in a strong perpendicular magnetic field. We also explicitly include a parabolic confining potential into the Hamiltonian. The Rashba–Dresselhaus Hamiltonian is shown to give rise to a fictitious magnetic field which depends on the location of the electron in the loop and may be forced to lie along the bisector of the first-third quadrant. We show that the spin precesses, without wobbulations, about this fictitious field. It is further demonstrated that at locations where this fictitious field vanishes, the spin precesses about the external field, with wobbulations.