Spin accumulation oscillation and current vortex in the Landauer setup with locally applied biases

Abstract

The spin accumulation and the out-of-plane spin current in two-dimensional (x-y plane) electron gas with the Rashba spin-orbit interaction are examined. Employing the real-space Landauer–Keldysh Green’s function formalism and considering the two-terminal Landauer setup with leads locally contacting the sample, we show that the accumulation patterns for the three components of the spins can be identified from their unique symmetries. With increasing lateral sample length, the out-of-plane spin accumulation oscillates by generating bubbles with alternating signs on the lateral edges. The out-of-plane spin currents are patterned by global vortices, and within the locally biased region of the sample, the direction of the current flow also oscillates as a function of the lateral sample length.