Spin filter using a semiconductor quantum ring side-coupled to a quantum wire

Electron transport through a spin-orbit-coupled quantum ring is investigated within linear response theory. We show that the finite width of the ring results in the appearance of Fano resonances in the conductance. This turns out to be a consequence of the spin-orbit interaction that leads to a breaking of the parity of the states localized in the ring. The resonances appear when the system is close to maxima of Aharonov-Casher conductance oscillations where spin transfer is ...

The zero-temperature magnetic field-dependent conductance of electrons through a one-dimensional non-interacting tight-binding chain with an interacting {\it side} dot is reviewed and analized further. When the number of electrons in the dot is odd, and the Kondo effect sets in at the impurity site, the conductance develops a wide minimum as a function of the gate voltage, being zero at the unitary limit. Application of a magnetic field progressively destroys the Kondo effect...

Quantum rings connected to ballistic circuits couple strongly to external magnetic fields if the connection is not symmetric. By analytical theory and computer simulation I show that properly connected rings can be used to pump currents in the wires giving raise to a number of interesting new phenomena. One can pump spin polarized currents into the wires by using rotating magnetic fields or letting the ring rotate around the wire. This method works without any need for the sp...

Using standard quantum network method, we analytically investigate the effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) and a magnetic field on the spin transport properties of a polygonal quantum ring. Using Landauer-Buttiker formula, we have found that the polarization direction and phase of transmitted electrons can be controlled by both the magnetic field and RSOC. A device to generate a spin-polarized conductance in a polygon with an arbitrary number of sides is discussed. Th...

The problem of spin injection across the interface between a non-ideal ferromagnet (less than 100% spin polarization) and a semiconductor (paramagnetic) quantum wire is examined in the presence of Rashba spin orbit coupling and an axial magnetic field along the wire axis. The field is caused by the ferromagnet magnetized along the wire axis. At low temperatures and for certain injection energies, the interface can act as an ideal spin filter allowing injection only from the m...

We propose a simple scheme for the spin filter by studying the coherent transport of electrons through a double-bend structure in a quantum wire with a weak lateral magnetic potential which is much weaker than the Fermi energy of the leads. {\em Extremely large} spin polarized current in the order of {\em micro-Ampere} can be obtained because of the strong resonant behavior from the double bends. Further study suggests the roubustness of this spin filter.

We study the spin-dependent conductance of ballistic mesoscopic ring systems in the presence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field. We show that, for the setup proposed, even a small Zeeman splitting can lead to a considerable spin polarisation of the current. Making use of a spin-switch effect predicted for such systems we propose a device of two rings connected in series that in principle allows for both creating and coherently controlling spin polarized currents at low temper...

We study the current flow through semiconductor quantum rings. In high magnetic field the current is usually injected to the arm of the ring preferred by classical magnetic forces. However, for narrow magnetic field intervals that appear periodically on the magnetic field scale the current is injected to the other arm of the ring. We indicate that the appearance of the anomalous -- non-classical -- current circulation results from Fano interference involving localized resonan...

We investigate the electron transport through a mesoscopic ring side-coupled with a quantum dot(QD) in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit(SO) interaction. It is shown that both the Fano resonance and the spin interference effects play important roles in the electron transport properties. As the QD level is around the Fermi energy, the total conductance shows typical Fano resonance line shape. By applying an electrical gate voltage to the QD, the total transmission through the ...

We extend a special kind of localized state trapped at the intersection due to the geometric confinement, first proposed in a three-terminal-opening T-shaped structure [Euro. Phys. Lett. {\bf 55}, 539 (2001)], into a ring geometry with a tangent connection to the wire. In this ring geometry, there exists one localized state trapped at the intersection with energy lying inside the lowest subband. We systematically study this localized state and the resulting Fano-type interfer...