Condensed Matter Seminar: Spin-orbit active weak links

The spin-orbit interaction, which allows for an interplay between charge and spin currents in all-electrical devices, substantially alters their transport properties. This interaction affects transport even more dramatically in ballistic one-dimensional conductors, where an additional spin-dependent phase, termed “Aharonov-Casher phase"  is accumulated by propagating electrons. In this talk we overview two aspects that can be realized in spin-active weak links: 1. Magnetoconductance anisotropy (with respect to the direction of the magnetic field) of a single weak link where the spin-orbit coupling is controlled by an external electric field. We show that such a device allows for a direct detection of the Aharonov-Casher phase, and does not require observing interference patterns; 2. Spin-orbit induced splitting of Cooper pairs.