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Charge and spin Hall conductivity in metallic graphene
N A Sinitsyn1, J E Hill, Hongki Min
1Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|October 10, 2006
Summary
This study investigates graphene's spin Hall conductivity, finding that disorder can enhance it beyond theoretical predictions. Large conductivities are observable even without a clear spin-orbit gap.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Graphene exhibits unique electronic properties, including chiral bands and quantized Hall effects.
- Spin Hall conductivity in graphene is a key area of theoretical and experimental interest.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dependence of graphene's spin Hall conductivity on Fermi energy and disorder.
- To analyze the impact of vertex corrections and skew scattering on spin Hall conductivity.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of graphene's band structure.
- Modeling of Fermi energy and disorder effects on spin Hall conductivity.
Main Results:
- Vertex corrections enhance intrinsic spin Hall conductivity in the metallic regime.
- Skew scattering leads to spin Hall conductivity exceeding quantized values.
- Large spin Hall conductivities are predicted even when the spin-orbit gap is diminished by disorder.
Conclusions:
- Disorder plays a crucial role in determining spin Hall conductivity in graphene.
- Graphene can exhibit significant spin Hall effects under conditions where the spin-orbit gap is not robust.
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