The Talbot effect in a two-dimensional system with Rashba spin–orbit coupling

Abstract

In this work, a theory for the scattering of two-dimensional plane-waves from a periodic, quasi-one-dimensional array of nonmagnetic, localized scatterers in the presence of Rashba spin–orbit coupling is presented. Formulas for the spin-subband resolved transmission and reflection coefficients along with the transmitted and reflected wave functions are derived. In the presence of spin–orbit coupling, the Talbot effect, where periodic modulations in the transmitted probability density arise along a direction orthogonal to the periodic direction of the scattering potential, is shown to occur. However, it is demonstrated that Rashba spin–orbit coupling increases the complexity of the observed interference patterns where different types of Talbot lengths due to both interspin and intraspin subband scattering are predicted. Numerical calculations are provided to support the theoretical calculations presented in this work.