Spin-velocity locking in a helical chain of atomic p± orbitals

Abstract

Observations of a high spin selectivity in various helical structures, which is called the chirality-induced spin selectivity, suggest a common mechanism originating from the helical geometry. In this paper, we consider a helical chain of atomic p± orbitals having the tangential angular momentum l = ±1. We show in this model that the coupling of l and the spin gives rise to spin-velocity locking, i.e., directions of spin and group velocity are parallel or antiparallel depending on the chirality of the helix, and consequently, an almost perfect spin selectivity in a specific energy region in a wide range of the curvature and the torsion of the helix. We find that the present spin-velocity locking originates from the helical symmetry in which the Hamiltonian is invariant with respect to a combined operation of the rotation around the helix axis and the translation along the helix axis. Therefore, we expect that spin-velocity locking occurs in a wide variety of helical structures.