Abstract We review theoretical and experimental results on geometric spin-phase detection and manipulation in mesoscopic Rashba spin-orbit (SO) rings. A one-dimensional (1D) model capable of providing physical insight into electronic spin dynamics and interferometry under SO and Zeeman fields is developed to discuss spin transport in Rashba rings. The model gives an accurate prediction of the Aharonov-Casher (AC) oscillation period in the conductance of Rashba rings that eventually leads to the identification of geometric spin-phase components in experiments. Thus, we experimentally demonstrate the radius dependence of the geometric spin phases in AC interference. In addition, we find a universal oscillatory behavior of the AC effect, corresponding to the observation of an effective spin-dependent flux similar to the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) flux. The experimental results show geometric phases away from the adiabatic limit. Moreover, phase shifts in the AC oscillations induced by an in-plane magnetic field are consistent with the geometric spin phases predicted by the theory, demonstrating that geometric spin phases can be controlled independently from dynamical spin phases by field engineering.

中文翻译：

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Aharonov-Casher 干涉中的几何自旋相位

摘要 我们回顾了在介观 Rashba 自旋轨道 (SO) 环中几何自旋相位检测和操纵的理论和实验结果。一维 (1D) 模型能够提供对 SO 和塞曼场下的电子自旋动力学和干涉测量的物理洞察力，用于讨论 Rashba 环中的自旋输运。该模型准确预测了 Rashba 环电导中的 Aharonov-Casher (AC) 振荡周期，最终导致在实验中识别几何自旋相分量。因此，我们通过实验证明了 AC 干涉中几何自旋相位的半径依赖性。此外，我们发现 AC 效应的普遍振荡行为，对应于观察到类似于 Aharonov-Bohm (AB) 通量的有效自旋相关通量。实验结果表明几何相位远离绝热极限。此外，由面内磁场引起的 AC 振荡中的相移与理论预测的几何自旋相位一致，表明几何自旋相位可以通过场工程独立于动态自旋相位进行控制。