Driving Spin and Charge in Quantum Wells by Surface Acoustic Waves

Recent experiments have shown the potential of surface acoustic waves as a mean for transporting charge and spin in quantum wells. In particular, they have proven highly effective for the coherent transport of spin‐polarized wave packets, suggesting their potential in spintronics applications. Motivated by these experimental observations, the spin and charge dynamics in a quantum well under surface acoustic waves is theoretically studied. It is shown that the dynamics acquires a simple and transparent form in a reference frame co‐moving with the surface acoustic wave. The results, e.g., the calculated spin relaxation and precession lengths, are in excellent agreement with recent experimental observations.