Spin currents, spin populations, and dielectric function of noncentrosymmetric semiconductors

Abstract

In Maxwellian electrodynamics, specific properties of the responses to external fields are included in constitutive equations. For noncentrosymmetric semiconductors, spin conductivity can be expressed in terms of the contribution of electric-dipole transitions between spin-split spectrum branches to the dielectric function. In a dissipationless regime, a spin current driven by an external electric field is tantamount to a background current in an equilibrium system with a reduced symmetry. The importance of transients and gradients for efficient spin-flux injection is emphasized.