  The controlled generation of localized spin densities is a key enabler of
semiconductor spintronics In this work, we study spin Hall effect induced edge
spin accumulation in a two-dimensional hole gas with strong spin orbit
interactions. We argue that it is an intrinsic property, in the sense that it
is independent of the strength of disorder scattering. We show numerically that
the spin polarization near the edge induced by this mechanism can be large, and
that it becomes larger and more strongly localized as the spin-orbit coupling
strength increases, and is independent of the width of the conducting strip
once this exceeds the elastic scattering mean-free-path. Our experiments in
two-dimensional hole gas microdevices confirm this remarkable spin Hall effect
phenomenology. Achieving comparable levels of spin polarization by external
magnetic fields would require laboratory equipment whose physical dimensions
and operating electrical currents are million times larger than those of our
spin Hall effect devices.
