• Editors' Suggestion

Spin texture of generic helical edge states

Alexia Rod, Thomas L. Schmidt, and Stephan Rachel
Phys. Rev. B 91, 245112 – Published 8 June 2015

Abstract

We study the spin texture of a generic helical liquid, the edge modes of a two-dimensional topological insulator with broken axial spin symmetry. By considering honeycomb and square-lattice realizations of topological insulators, we show that in all cases the generic behavior of a momentum-dependent rotation of the spin quantization axis is realized. Here we establish this mechanism also for disk geometries with continuous rotational symmetry. Finally, we demonstrate that the rotation of spin-quantization axis remains intact for arbitrary geometries, i.e., in the absence of any continuous symmetry. We also calculate the dependence of this rotation on the model and material parameters. Finally, we propose a spectroscopy measurement which should directly reveal the rotation of the spin-quantization axis of the helical edge states.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
10 More
  • Received 27 March 2015
  • Revised 13 May 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.245112

©2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Alexia Rod1, Thomas L. Schmidt2,3, and Stephan Rachel1

  • 1Institute for Theoretical Physics, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
  • 2Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
  • 3Physics and Materials Science Research Unit, University of Luxembourg, L-1511 Luxembourg

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 91, Iss. 24 — 15 June 2015

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review B

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×