Spin-dependent electron-impurity scattering in two-dimensional electron systems
Absztrakt:
We present a theoretical study of elastic spin-dependent
electron
scattering caused by a charged impurity in the vicinity of a
two-dimensional electron gas. We find that the symmetry
properties of
the spin-dependent differential scattering cross section are
different
for an impurity located in the plane of the electron gas and for
one at
a finite distance from the plane. We show that in the latter
case
asymmetric ("skew") scattering can arise if the polarization of
the
incident electron has a finite projection on the plane spanned
by the
normal vector of the two-dimensional electron gas and the
initial
propagation direction. In specially prepared samples this
scattering
mechanism may give rise to a Hall-type effect in the presence of
an
in-plane magnetic field.