Spin current pumping with two orthogonal electric fields in quantum wire

We study the problem of spin current pumping in a one-dimensional quantum wire when there exist two orthogonal Rashba spin-orbit couplings (SOCs) in different regions which evolve with time and can be induced by the perpendicular electric fields. On one hand, we demonstrate that the time-evolving Rashba SOC is equivalent to the spin-dependent electric field and the scheme may lead to the pure spin current associated with well suppressed charge current. On the other hand, we adopt the non-equilibrium Green's function method and numerically find that the parameter loop must satisfy certain condition for the successful pumping. We also study the effect of the Fermi energy and the inevitable disorder on the spin current. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Zeeman splitting in ballistic hole quantum wires

We have studied the Zeeman splitting in ballistic hole quantum wires formed in a (311)A quantum well by surface gate confinement. Transport measurements clearly show lifting of the spin degeneracy and crossings of the subbands when an in-plane magnetic field B is applied parallel to the wire. When B is oriented perpendicular to the wire, no spin splitting is discernible up to B = 8.8 T. The observed large Zeeman splitting anisotropy in our hole quantum wires demonstrates the importance of quantum confinement for spin splitting in nanostructures with strong spin-orbit coupling.     

Nonequilibrium Zeeman splitting in quantum transport through nanoscale junctions

We calculate the differential conductance G(V) through a quantum dot in an applied magnetic field. We use a Keldysh conserving approximation for weakly correlated and the scattering-states numerical renormalization group for the intermediate and strongly correlated regime out of equilibrium. In the weakly correlated regime, the Zeeman splitting observable in G(V) strongly depends on the asymmetry of the device. In contrast, in the strongly correlated regime the position Δ(K) of the Zeeman-split zero-bias anomaly is almost independent of such asymmetries and of the order of the Zeeman energy Δ(0). We find a crossover from the purely spin-fluctuation driven Kondo regime at small magnetic fields with Δ(K)<Δ(0) to a regime at large fields where the contribution of charge fluctuations induces larger splittings with Δ(K)>Δ(0) as it was observed in recent experiments.     

Spin and charge pumping by ferromagnetic-superconductor order parameters

We study transport in ferromagnetic-superconductor/normal-metal systems. It is shown that charge and spin currents are pumped from ferromagnetic superconductors into adjacent normal metals by adiabatic changes in the order parameters induced by external electromagnetic fields. Spin and charge pumping identify the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter, e.g., singlet pairing or triplet pairing with opposite or equal spin pairing. Consequences for ferromagnetic-resonance experiments are discussed.     

Nonadiabatic two-parameter charge and spin pumping in a quantum dot

We study dc charge and spin transport through a weakly coupled quantum dot, driven by a nonadiabatic periodic change of system parameters. We generalize the model of Tien and Gordon to simultaneously oscillating voltages and tunnel couplings. When applying our general result to the two-parameter charge pumping in quantum dots, we find interference effects between the oscillations of the voltage and tunnel couplings. We show that these interference effects may explain recent measurements in metallic islands. Furthermore, we discuss the possibility to electrically pump a spin current in presence of a static magnetic field.     

Zeeman splitting of the conduction band of HgTe quantum wells with a semimetallic spectrum

Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations in Hg_1-xCd_x Te/HgTe/Hg_1-xCd_xTe structures with the widths of a well of 16 and 20 nm have been investigated in tilted magnetic fields. The spin-to-orbital splitting ratio in the conduction band has been found in a wide range of electron densities. The magnitude and density dependence of the ratio agree fairly well with the calculations of the spectrum in the 8-band kP model. It has been shown that the effective g factor is anisotropic, g_|| < g_┴. The anisotropy is very high at low densities but decreases rapidly with an increase in the density, approaching unity at n_e = (3?4) × 10¹¹ cm^-2.     

Exchange-induced splitting of radiative exciton levels in a single quantum wire

We report on polarization-resolved micro-photoluminescence experiments performed on a single GaAs/GaAlAs V-shaped quantum wire. At low temperature the micro-photoluminescence spectra are composed of sharp peaks corresponding to excitons localized in naturally formed quantum boxes. We observed splittings of the radiative doublet of these exciton levels into two linearly polarized states due to the exchange interaction. The exchange splittings are of the order of 100 μeV. A theoretical model of the exchange interaction on localized states in quantum wires is developed. It shows that the exchange splitting is characteristic of the uniaxial anisotropy of the localized states and thus related to their extension along the wire axis. The experimental results are discussed within the frame of this model.     

Adiabatic charge pumping in carbon nanotube quantum dots

We investigate charge pumping in carbon nanotube quantum dots driven by the electric field of a surface acoustic wave. We find that, at small driving amplitudes, the pumped current reverses polarity as the conductance is tuned through a Coulomb blockade peak using a gate electrode. We study the behavior as a function of wave amplitude, frequency, and direction and develop a model in which our results can be understood as resulting from adiabatic charge redistribution between the leads and quantum dots on the nanotube.     

Spin filtering in a nonuniform quantum wire with Rashba spin-orbit interaction

We investigate theoretically the spin-polarized electron transport for a wide-narrow-wide (WNW) quantum wire under the modulation of Rashba spin-orbit interaction (SOI). The influence of both the structure of the quantum wire and the interference between different pairs of subbands on the spin-polarized electron transport is taken into account simultaneously via the spin-resolved lattice Green function method. It is found that a very large vertical spin-polarized current can be generated by the SOI-induced effective magnetic field at the structure-induced Fano resonance even in the presence of strong disorder. Furthermore, the magnitude of the spin polarization can be tuned by the Rashba SOI strength and structural parameters. Those results may provide an effective way to design a spin filter device without containing any magnetic materials or applying a magnetic field.     

Giant Zeeman splitting of light holes in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

We have developed a theory of the longitudinal g-factor of light holes in semiconductor quantum wells. It is shown that the absolute value of the light-hole g-factor can strongly exceed its value in the bulk and, moreover, the dependence of the Zeeman splitting on magnetic field becomes non-linear in relatively low fields. These effects are determined by the proximity of the ground light-hole subband, lh1, to the first excited heavy-hole subband, hh2, in GaAs/AlGaAs-type structures. The particular calculations are performed in the framework of Luttinger Hamiltonian taking into account both the magnetic field-induced mixing of lh1 and hh2 states and the mixing of these states at heterointerfaces, the latter caused by chemical bonds anisotropy. A theory of magneto-induced reflection and transmission of light through the quantum wells for the light-hole-to-electron absorption edge is also presented.     

Excitation spectrum of two correlated electrons in a lateral quantum dot with negligible Zeeman splitting

The excitation spectrum of a two-electron quantum dot is investigated by tunneling spectroscopy in conjunction with theoretical calculations. The dot made from a material with negligible Zeeman splitting has a moderate spatial anisotropy leading to a splitting of the two lowest triplet states at zero magnetic field. In addition to the well-known triplet excitation at zero magnetic field, two additional excited states are found at finite magnetic field. The lower one is identified as the second excited singlet state on the basis of an avoided crossing with the first excited singlet state at finite fields. The measured spectra are in remarkable agreement with exact-diagonalization calculations. The results prove the significance of electron correlations and suggest the formation of a state with Wigner-molecular properties at low magnetic fields.