Spin transverse force on spin current in an electric field.
As a relativistic quantum mechanical effect, it is shown that the electron field exerts a transverse force on an electron spin 1/2 only if the electron is moving. The spin force, analogue to the Lorentz for an electron charge in a magnetic field, is perpendicular to the electric field and the spin current whose spin polarization is projected along the electric field. This spin-dependent force can be used to understand the Zitterbewegung of the electron wave packet with spin-orbit coupling and is relevant to the generation of the charge Hall effect driven by the spin current in semiconductors.
Shen
Shun-Qing
SQ
Department of Physics, Center for Theoretical and Computational Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China.