Gate-tunable spin-valley transport via carrier velocity in monolayer WSe$_2$

We theoretically investigate spin- and valley-resolved quantum transport in monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe$_2$) described by an effective massive Dirac Hamiltonian. Particular attention is devoted to a finite barrier region characterized by simultaneously modulated Fermi velocity and scalar potential. The barrier velocity $v_2$ is related to the external velocity $v_1$ through a velocity ratio $ξ=v_2/v_1$, motivated by an optical analogy with the Snell-Descartes law. The exact refraction condition depends on the full spin- and valley-resolved dispersion, and the simple ratio $ξ=v_2/v_1$ is recovered only in the massless, symmetric limit. The interplay of intrinsic spin-orbit coupling in the conduction and valence bands, quantified by $λ_c$ and $λ_v$, with spin- and valley-dependent Zeeman fields, $M_s$ and $M_v$, gives rise to substantial changes in the quasiparticle dispersion, leading to pronounced modifications of the transport characteristics. By solving the Dirac equation and enforcing current-conserving matching conditions at the interfaces, we compute the spin- and valley-dependent transmission probability and conductance. Our results demonstrate that the barrier velocity, scalar potential, incidence angle, incident energy, and barrier width serve as effective control parameters for transport, giving rise to strong anisotropy and resonant tunneling features. Furthermore, we show that both the magnitude and orientation of spin- and valley-polarized currents can be continuously tuned via velocity and potential modulation. These findings establish combined velocity and potential engineering as a powerful theoretical framework for controlling spin-valley physics in two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides.

Source: arXiv:2606.12353v1 - http://arxiv.org/abs/2606.12353v1 PDF: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.12353v1 Original Link: http://arxiv.org/abs/2606.12353v1