Rectification in Y-junctions of Luttinger liquid wires

TL;DR

This paper studies how rectification occurs in Y-junctions of Luttinger liquid wires with electron interactions, showing conditions for enhanced rectification currents and unique voltage-dependent behaviors.

Contribution

It demonstrates that Y-junctions can produce higher rectification currents than single wires with asymmetric scatterers, especially without time-reversal symmetry.

Findings

Rectification is enhanced in Y-junctions with three scatterers.

Maximal rectification current can approach the total current $e^2V/h$.

Rectification current can increase as voltage decreases, creating a bump in the I-V curve.

Abstract

We investigate rectification of a low-frequency ac bias in Y-junctions of one-channel Luttinger liquid wires with repulsive electron interaction. Rectification emerges due to three scatterers in the wires. We find that it is possible to achieve a higher rectification current in a Y-junction than in a single wire with an asymmetric scatterer at the same interaction strength and voltage bias. The rectification effect is the strongest in the absence of the time-reversal symmetry. In that case, the maximal rectification current can be comparable with the total current $\sim e^2V/h$ even for low voltages, weak scatterers and modest interaction strength. In a certain range of low voltages, the rectification current can grow as the voltage decreases. This leads to a bump in the $I$-$V$ curve.