Toward accurate calculation of diffusive spin transport starting from realistic Hamiltonians: Applications to electrons, excitons, polaritons and holes

Speaker	Vincent Sacksteder (Royal Hollow University London)
Venue	P/T/111
Time	4pm on 6th December 2016

Spin-orbit couplings, in the presence of an electric current, can generate strong spin currents with possible applications to magnetic domain switching in new memory devices. This talk will focus on a coarse-graining strategy which starts from realistic Hamiltonians describing spin and scattering at the atomic scale, and derives spin diffusion equations suitable for modeling a spintronics device. After reviewing the standard formalism, we outline how spin diffusion coefficients can be calculated either analytically or numerically. We present results for spin lifetimes, spin polarization production, and characteristic spatial patterns in hole-doped materials, polaritons, electron gases, and excitons.