Rashba precession in quantum wires

Abstract

The length over which electron spins reverse direction due to the Rashba effect when injected with an initial polarization along the axes of a quantum wire is investigated theoretically. A soft wall confinement of the wire renormalizes the spin-orbit parameter (and the effective mass) stronger than hard walls. Electron-electron interactions enhance the Rashba precession while evidence is found that the coupling between transport channels may suppress it.

4 pages, 1 Postscript figure