title: Spin-to-charge conversion of mesoscopic spin currents.
abstract: Recent theoretical investigations have shown that spin currents can be generated by passing electric currents through spin-orbit coupled mesoscopic systems. Measuring these spin currents has, however, not been achieved to date. We show how mesoscopic spin currents in lateral heterostructures can be measured with a single-channel voltage probe. In the presence of a spin current, the charge current I(qpc) through the quantum point contact connecting the probe is odd in an externally applied Zeeman field B, while it is even in the absence of spin current. Furthermore, the zero-field derivative ∂(B)I(qpc) is proportional to the magnitude of the spin current, with a proportionality coefficient that can be determined in an independent measurement. We confirm these findings numerically.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, University of Arizona, 1118 East Fourth Street, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stano
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jacquod