Quantum transport theory for nanostructures with Rashba spin-orbital interaction

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive quantum transport theory for nanostructures with Rashba spin-orbital interaction, analyzing effects on conductance and spin polarization in devices like quantum dots and rings.

Contribution

It introduces a spectral space second quantization approach for Rashba interactions and applies the formalism to analyze spin-polarized transport in Aharonov-Bohm rings.

Findings

Rashba interaction induces spin-dependent phase factors in coupling matrices.

It causes inter-level spin-flip terms while forbidding intra-level spin-flips.

Substantial controllable spin-polarized conductance is achieved via magnetic flux and gate voltage.

Abstract

We report on a general theory for analyzing quantum transport through devices in the Metal-QD-Metal configuration where QD is a quantum dot or the device scattering region which contains Rashba spin-orbital and electron-electron interactions. The metal leads may or may not be ferromagnetic, they are assumed to weakly couple to the QD region. Our theory is formulated by second quantizing the Rashba spin-orbital interaction in spectral space (instead of real space), and quantum transport is then analyzed within the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green's function formalism. The Rashba interaction causes two main effects to the Hamiltonian: (i) it gives rise to an extra spin-dependent phase factor in the coupling matrix elements between the leads and the QD; (ii) it gives rise to an inter-level spin-flip term but forbids any intra-level spin-flips. Our formalism provides a starting point for analyzing many quantum transport issues where spin-orbital effects are important. As an example, we investigate transport properties of a Aharnov-Bohm ring in which a QD having Rashba spin-orbital and e-e interactions is located in one arm of the ring. A substantial spin-polarized conductance or current emerges in this device due to a combined effect of a magnetic flux and the Rashba interaction. The direction and strength of the spin-polarization are shown to be controllable by both the magnetic flux and a gate voltage.