Zhu Z.-G., Jia C.-L., and Berakdar J.

The spin dynamics in a quantum wire with a Rashba spin-orbit interaction (SOI) is shown to be controllable via subpicosecond electromagnetic pulses shaped appropriately. If the light polarization vector is along the wire?s direction, the carriers experience a momentum boost while the phase coherence in different spin channels is maintained, a fact exploitable to control the speed of a photodriven spin field effect transistor. A photon pulse with a polarization vector perpendicular to the wire results in a spin precession which is comparable to that due to the Rashba SOI and is tunable by the pulse field parameters, an effect utilizable in optically controlled spintronics devices.

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