Spin transport and dynamic properties of two-dimensional spin-momentum locked states

¹ Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences - Beijing, 100190, China
² Department of Physics, University of Arizona - Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

^(a) zhangshu@email.arizona.edu

Received: 28 March 2020
Accepted: 26 May 2020

Abstract

Materials with spin-momentum locked surface or interface states provide an interesting playground for studying physics and application of charge-spin current conversion. To characterize their non-equilibrium magnetic and transport properties in the presence of a time-dependent external magnetic field and a spin injection from a contact, we introduce three macroscopic variables: a vectorial helical magnetization, a scalar helical magnetization, and the conventional magnetization. We derive a set of closed dynamic equations for these variables by using the spinor Boltzmann approach with the collision terms consistent with the symmetry of spin-momentum locked states. By solving the dynamic equations, we predict several intriguing magnetic and transport phenomena which are experimentally accessible, including magnetic resonant response to an AC applied magnetic field, charge-spin conversion, and spin current induced by the dynamics of helical magnetization.