FIG. 5.

Real and reciprocal space depictions of the Rashba-Edelstein effect. Carriers are restricted to an idealized two-dimensional interface. (a) The carriers feel an effective magnetic field along $u(k)=k\times \widehat{z}$ (green arrow) due to spin-orbit coupling. (b) The band structure obtained from the Rashba Hamiltonian in Eq. 2 for vanishing exchange interaction (Δ = 0). The spin expectation values (arrows) are shown at the Fermi energy E_F, where E_F > E(k = 0). (c) The Fermi surface forms two circular sheets distinguished by their spin expectation values being parallel (outer circle) or antiparallel (inner circle) to u(k). An electric field biases carrier occupations, where blue arrows indicate increased occupation and red decreased, leading to a net spin polarization along $E\times \widehat{z}$.