Giant mesoscopic spin Hall effect on the surface of topological insulator

Phys Rev Lett. 2011 Feb 4;106(5):057205. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.057205. Epub 2011 Feb 2.

Abstract

We study mesoscopic spin Hall effect on the surface of a topological insulator with a step-function potential by using the McMillan method commonly used in the study of superconductor junctions. In the ballistic transport regime, we predict a giant spin polarization induced by a transverse electric current with parameter suitable to the topological insulator thin film Bi(2)Se(3). The spin polarization oscillates across the potential boundary with no confinement due to the Klein paradox, and should be observable in a spin resolved scanning tunneling microscope.