Proposal for a Datta-Das transistor in the quantum Hall regime

Abstract

We propose a resonant spin-field-effect transistor for chiral spin-resolved edge states in the integer quantum Hall effect with Rashba spin-orbit interaction. It employs a periodic array of voltage-controlled top gates that locally modulate the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. Strong resonant spin-field effect is achieved when the array periodicity matches the inverse of the wave-vector difference of the two chiral states involved. Well-known techniques of separately contacting the edge states make it possible to selectively populate and read out the edge states, allowing full spin readout. The resonant nature of the spin-field effect and the adiabatic character of the edge states guarantee a high degree of robustness with respect to disorder. Our device represents the quantum Hall version of the all-electrical Datta-Das spin-field effect transistor.