https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00837-3
Regular Article
Wave-particle duality of electrons with spin-momentum locking
Double-slit interference and single-slit diffraction effects of electrons on the surface of three-dimensional topological insulators
1
Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Manuel de Lardizbal 4, 20018, San Sebastián, Spain
2
IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation of Science, 48011, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
3
Aix Marseille Univ, Universitá de Toulon, CNRS, CPT, Marseille, France
4
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genoa, Italy
5
SPIN-CNR, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genoa, Italy
Received:
3
July
2020
Accepted:
5
October
2020
Published online:
12
October
2020
We investigate the effects of spin-momentum locking on the interference and diffraction patterns due to a double- or single-slit in an electronic Gedankenexperiment. We show that the inclusion of the spin-degree-of-freedom, when coupled to the motion direction of the carrier—a typical situation that occurs in systems with spin–orbit interaction—leads to a modification of the interference and diffraction patterns that depend on the geometrical parameters of the system.
© Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
