Wigner Function Formalism for Zero Magnetic Field Spin Dependent Resonant Tunneling Structures

TL;DR

This paper introduces a Wigner function approach to model quantum transport in Rashba effect resonant tunneling structures, accounting for spin splitting caused by inversion asymmetry and external electric fields without magnetic fields.

Contribution

It develops a novel Wigner function formalism for quantum transport in spin-dependent tunneling structures incorporating the Rashba effect and phonon interactions.

Findings

Wigner function formalism effectively models spin-dependent quantum transport.

The approach captures spin splitting due to inversion asymmetry.

The method integrates phonon bath effects into the transport equations.

Abstract

We develop a Wigner function representation of the quantum transport theory of the conduction band electrons in Rashba effect resonant tunneling structures with a phonon bath. In narrow band gap heterostructures, spin splitting occurs mainly as a result of inversion asymmetry in the spatial dependence of the potential or as a result of external electric field. This "zero magnetic field spin splitting" is due to the Rashba term in the effective mass Hamiltonian. The quantum transport equations are derived using multi-band non-equilibrium Green's function formulation in generalized Kadanoff-Baym ansatz.