Spin–orbit Interaction

In quantum physics, the spin–orbit interaction (also called spin–orbit effect or spin–orbit coupling) is any interaction of a particle's spin with its motion. The first and best known example of this is that spin-orbit interaction causes shifts in an electron's atomic energy levels due to electromagnetic interaction between the electron's spin and the magnetic field generated by the electron's orbit around the nucleus. This is detectable as a splitting of spectral lines. A similar effect, due to the relationship between angular momentum and the strong nuclear force, occurs for protons and neutrons moving inside the nucleus, leading to a shift in their energy levels in the nucleus shell model. In the field of spintronics, spin-orbit effects for electrons in semiconductors and other materials are explored for technological applications. The spin-orbit interaction is one cause of magnetocrystalline anisotropy.