Electronic double refraction due to the Rashba effect: Analytical and numerical results

Abstract

By analogy with the classic effect of the double refraction of light, we investigate the relevant effect of an electron entering from the Non-Rashba region to the Rashba region in two-dimensional systems. It is shown that the effect of electronic double refraction is determined by a combined parameter λ=m*λ_Fα/2πh², rather than both the Rashba coefficient α and wavelength λ_F of a Fermi electron, separately. For the case of normal incidence, the analytical expressions for the wavefunction of the electron are presented; it is predicted that the Rashba spin-orbit coupling can induce a current perpendicular to the normal incident direction of the electron. Moreover, the general case of incident electron with any given momentum and spin state are studied numerically in detail, including the abrupt changes of spin direction and the two-step characters for reflection.