- Editors' Suggestion
- Letter
Emergence of aligned nontopological and crossed topological spin helices with unconventional spin-orbit manipulation
Phys. Rev. B 111, L241403 – Published 4 June, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.111.L241403
Abstract
The usual one-way inequalities of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit (SO) couplings in semiconductor heterostructures set a severe restriction for spin manipulation. Here, by resorting to a realistic system and a dual-gate multisubband model the following occurs. (i) We overcome this long-standing bottleneck and release unconventional SO manipulation, and so render it feasible for achieving universal SO control and for guiding experiments in unlocking new frontiers in spintronics. (ii) We also reveal the emergence of both aligned and crossed spin helices embracing nontopological and topological (TP) swirling textures, respectively, thus opening up a unique possibility for harnessing robust (either non-TP or TP) spin textures in device designs. Finally, (iii) we achieve the interconversion between the two distinct (TP and non-TP) phases through in situ electrical means, further facilitating possible applications in practice. Our findings may hold broad relevance across multiple fields of physics including spintronics, orbitronics, topological manner, and even quantum computing and quantum information science, particularly in the broad heterostructure community.