Intrinsic spin Hall effect in systems with striped spin-orbit coupling

The Rashbaspin-orbitcouplingarisingfromstructureinversionasymmetry couplesspin and momentum degrees of freedom providing a suitable (and very intensively investigated)environment for spintronic effects and devices. In this framework, the spin Hall effect is a crucialingredient since it allows for the manipulation of spin degreesof freedom without magnetic fields.Here we show that, in the presence of disorder, a striped modulation of a two-dimensional electrongas, affecting both density and Rashba spin-orbit coupling, givesrise to a finite spin Hall conduc-tivity in contrast with the corresponding homogeneous system.We suggest that this mechanismcan be exploited for a practical realization of a spin Hall device. This could be implemented atoxide interfaces with periodic top gating, leading to a large ratio between the induced spin andcharge currents.