Abstract

We study the spin-sensitive scattering of the spin-orbit (SO) coupled cold atom subject to a moving spin-independent rectangular potential barrier. Due to that SO coupling breaks Galilean invariance, the spin orientation of the atom can be switched unidirectionally and thus can serve as a one-way spin switch. Different atomic scattering processes are analyzed at different barrier velocities. We explore the spin polarization rate and the transmission coefficient in a wide range of barrier velocities and find good agreement with the corresponding experiment. The spin switch can reach an efficiency close to 1 at appropriate parameters. This study presents a comprehensive understanding of the physical mechanism underlying the system’s function as a spintronic device.

Graphical abstract

中文翻译：

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通过自旋轨道相互作用产生的自旋敏感原子散射

摘要

我们研究自旋轨道（SO）耦合冷原子的自旋敏感散射受移动自旋无关的矩形势垒的影响。由于SO耦合破坏了伽利略不变性，原子的自旋取向可以单向切换，因此可以用作单向自旋开关。在不同的势垒速度下分析了不同的原子散射过程。我们在各种势垒速度下探索自旋极化率和传输系数，并与相应的实验找到了很好的一致性。自旋开关在适当的参数下可以达到接近1的效率。这项研究对系统作为自旋电子设备功能的物理机制提供了全面的了解。

图形概要