Eur. Phys. J. B 78, 405-409 (2010)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2010-10586-9

Interfacial charge current in the ferromagnet/two-dimensional electron gas junction with Rashba spin orbital interaction

Department of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, P.R. China

Corresponding author: ^a jwang@seu.edu.cn

Received: 29 July 2010
Revised: 7 October 2010
Published online: 29 November 2010

Abstract

We report a theoretical study on the interfacial electron transport in the ferromagnet/two-dimensional electron gas (FM/2DEG) hybrid junction at zero bias, where the Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI) is considered in 2DEG region. It is shown that a nonzero charge current can spontaneously flow in the interface of the junction due to broken time reversal symmetry and spin-dependent scattering of electron at interface. This interfacial charge current can be modulated by system parameters such as the magnetization of FM, RSOI strength, and interface barrier, moreover, it can be optimized as the magnetization of FM in 2DEG plane is perpendicular to interface whereas it can vanish as the FM magnetization is parallel to interface.