Strain-induced nonlinear spin Hall effect in topological Dirac semimetal

Araki, Yasufumi   

The main focus of this presentation is the theory of spin current generation in topological Dirac semimetals (TDSMs), the newly-found three-dimensional topological materials. TDSMs are characterized by pair(s) of doubly-degenerate nodal points (Dirac points) in their momentum-space band structures, which are observed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) in NaBi and CdAs. I focus on a lattice-strained TDSM, to obtain an additional contribution to the spin current generation. I propose that an electric field applied to the strained TDSM gives rise to a nonlinear spin Hall current, namely the spin current perpendicular to and quadratic in the electric field. The spin current response is obtained by the Boltzmann transport theory, regarding the strain as a pseudomagnetic field for the Dirac electrons. This nonlinear effect implies that one can obtain a rectified (dc) pure spin current out of an alternating (ac) electric field, which renders the TDSM an efficient spin-current injector.