We propose a theoretical method to investigate the effect of the Dresselhaus spin–orbit coupling(DSOC) on the spin transport properties of a regular polygonal quantum ring with an arbitrary number of segments. We find that the DSOC can break the time reversal symmetry of the spin conductance in a polygonal ring and that this property can be used to reverse the spin direction of electrons in the polygon with the result that a pure spin up or pure spin down conductance can be obtained by exchanging the source and the drain. When the DSOC is considered in a polygonal ring with Rashba spin–orbit coupling(RSOC) with symmetric attachment of the leads, the total conductance is independent of the number of segments when both of the two types of spin–orbit coupling(SOC) have the same value. However, the interaction of the two types of SOC results in an anisotropic and shape-dependent conductance in a polygonal ring with asymmetric attachment of the leads. The method we proposed to solve for the spin conductance of a polygon can be generalized to the circular model.
The effect of the negative differential conductance of a ferromagnetic barrier on the surface of a topological insulator is theoretically investigated. Due to the changes of the shape and position of the Fermi surfaces in the ferromagnetic barrier,the transport processes can be divided into three kinds: the total, partial, and blockade transmission mechanisms. The bias voltage can give rise to the transition of the transport processes from partial to blockade transmission mechanisms, which results in a considerable effect of negative differential conductance. With appropriate structural parameters, the current–voltage characteristics show that the minimum value of the current can reach to zero in a wide range of the bias voltage,and then a large peak-to-valley current ratio can be obtained.
Transport properties in a multi-terminal regular polygonal quantum ring with Rashba spin-orbit coupling(SOC) are investigated analytically using quantum networks and the transport matrix method.The results show that conductances remain at exactly the same values when the output leads are located at axisymmetric positions.However,for the nonaxisymmetrical case,there is a phase difference between the upper and lower arm,which leads to zero conductances appearing periodically.An isotropy of the conductance is destroyed by the Rashba SOC effect in the axisymmetric case. In addition,the position of zero conductance is regulated with the strength of the Rashba SOC.
Spin-dependent transport in a triple quantum dots superlattice system with a bridge coupling to two leads is studied. There exists an odd-even parity oscillation of spin polarization at the central dot level εc = 0 due to the spin-dependent Fano and Dicke effects induced by the quantum interference and the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. In the case of even numbers of triple quantum dots, the device can be used as a spin switch by tuning the energy difference h between the energies of the central and the lateral dots. These results may be helpful to design and fabricate practical spintronic devices.
