Theory of inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect induced by spin pumping into a two-dimensional electron gas

Abstract: The inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect (IREE) in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) induced by spin pumping from an adjacent ferromagnetic insulator (FI) is investigated theoretically. In particular, spin and current densities in the 2DEG in which both Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions coexist are formulated, and their dependencies on ferromagnetic resonance frequency and orientation of the spin in the FI are clarified. It is shown that spin density diverges when the ratio between the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions approaches unity, while current density stays finite there. These results can be applied for evaluating spin splitting on the Fermi surface in a 2DEG and designing spintronic devices using IREE.