门电压控制的硅烯量子线中电子输运性质

硅烯是由单层硅原子形成的二维蜂窝状晶格结构,具有石墨烯类似的电学性质,由于硅烯中存在比较强的自旋轨道耦合而备受关注.本文利用非平衡格林函数方法研究了门电压控制的硅烯量子线中电子输运性质和能带结构.研究发现,只有在较强的门电压下,而且硅烯量子线具有较好的锯齿形或扶手椅形边界而不存在额外硅原子时,硅烯量子线中才存在无能隙的自旋极化边缘态.另外,计算结果表明这种门电压控制的硅烯量子线中边缘态在每个能谷处自旋是极化的.这些计算结果将为实验上利用电场制作硅烯纳米结构提供理论支持.     

Spin polarization of two-dimensional electron gas in hybrid ferromagnetic/semiconductor nanostructures

We present a theoretical study on the spin-dependent transport of electrons in hybrid ferromagnetic/semiconductor nanosystem under an applied bias voltage. Experimentally, this kind of nanosystem can be realized by depositing a magnetized ferromagnetic stripe with arbitrary magnetization direction on the surface of a semiconductor heterostructure. It is shown that large spin-polarized current can be achieved in such a nanosystem. It is also shown that the spin polarity of the electron transport can be switched by adjusting the applied bias voltage. These interesting properties may provide an alternative scheme to realize spin injection into semiconductors, and such a nanosystem may be used as a tunable spin-filter by bias voltage.     

Spin-polarized transport in multiterminal silicene nanodevices

The spin-polarized transport properties of multiterminal silicene nanodevices are studied using the tight binding model and Landauer–Buttier approach. We propose a four-terminal 2-shaped junction device and two types of three-terminal T-shaped junction devices, which are made of the crossing of a zigzag and an armchair silicene nanoribbon. If the electrons are injected into the metallic lead, the near-perfect spin polarization with 100% around the Fermi energy can be achieved easily at the other semiconducting leads. Thus the multiterminal silicene nanodevices can act as controllable spin filters.     

Spin-polarized transport in graphene nanoribbon superlattices

By the Green’s function method,we investigate spin transport properties of a zigzag graphene nanoribbon superlattice(ZGNS) under a ferromagnetic insulator and edge effect.The exchange splitting induced by the ferromagnetic insulator eliminates the spin degeneracy,which leads to spin-polarized transport in structure.Spin-dependent minibands and minigaps are exhibited in the conductance profile near the Fermi energy.The location and width of the miniband are associated with the geometry of the ZGNS.In the optimal structure,the spin-up and spin-down minibands can be separated completely near the Fermi energy.Therefore,a wide,perfect spin polarization with clear stepwise pattern is observed,i.e.,the perfect spin-polarized transport can be tuned from spin up to spin down by varying the electron energy.     

Effects of multi-band mixing on the spin-polarized transport in quasi-one-dimensional electron waveguides

We present numerical calculations of the energy dispersion of spin-polarized electrons in quasi-one-dimensional electronic waveguides in the presence of Rashba spin–orbit interaction (SOI), by using an efficient expanded basis method. Within this model, the general mixing between any two subbands is taken into account. We investigate the properties of spin-polarized transport in the nonuniform SOI system. It is found that the multi-band mixing brings significant effects on the properties of multiple subbands transport in the regime of high energy, especially for the cases of the wide waveguide, the strong SOI and the long extension of the SOI region.     

Effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling on the spin-polarized transport in ferromagnet/semiconductor double tunnel junctions

Considering the Rashba spin-orbit interaction in the semiconductor, we study theoretically the spin-polarized transport in a two-dimensional ferromagnetic semiconductor double tunnel junctions by a quantum-mechanical approach. It is found that the transmission coefficient shows typical resonant transmission properties and the Rashba spin-orbit coupling has great different influences on the transmission coefficients of electrons with spin-up and down and tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR). More importantly, the TMR is significantly enhanced by increasing the spin-orbit coupling, which is very useful for the designing of magnetic digital and memory sensor.     

Circularly polarized light stimulation of spin transport in zinc-blende semiconductors

An experimental and theoretical study on the optically stimulated spin transport in zinc-blende semiconductors is presented. The first part of the paper describes an experiment which investigates the effect of a longitudinal electric field on the spin-polarized carriers induced by a circularly polarized light. Since the photo-generated hole spins relaxation is extremely fast, the experiment observes only the effect resulting from spin-polarized electrons accumulating at the transverse edges of the sample, as a result of left-right asymmetries in scattering for spin-up and spin-down electrons in the presence of spin–orbit (SO) interaction. It is found that the effect depends on the longitudinal electric field and doping density as well as on temperature. The results are discussed. The second part of the paper deals with a theoretical investigation using norm-conserving pseudopotential and Green function formalism to analyse the SO mechanism responsible for the light-induced Hall voltage. The findings resulting from the investigation are discussed and are compared with experimental data.     

Triple Quantum Dot Molecule as a Spin-Splitter

We propose a spin-splitter composed of triple quantum dots that works due to the Coulomb blockade effect and the charge and spin biases applied on external electron source and drains. The spin biases are applied only on the two drains and give their spin-dependent chemical potentials, which act as the driving forces for electron spin-polarized transport. By tuning the biases and the dots＇ levels, spin-up and spin-down electrons can be simultaneously split or separated from the source into two different drains. We show that such a tunneling process is detectable in terms of the spin accumulations on the dots or the currents flowing through the external leads. The present device is quite simple and realizable within currently existing technologies.     

Spin-polarized current produced by a double barrier resonant tunneling diode

The spin-polarized tunneling current through a double barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD) made with a semimagnetic semiconductor is studied theoretically. The calculated spin-polarized current and polarization degree are in agreement with recent experimental results. It is predicted that the polarization degree can be modulated continuously from +1 to −1 by changing the external voltage such that the quasi-confined spin-up and spin-down energy levels shift downwards from the Fermi level to the bottom of the conduction band. The RTD with low potential barrier or the tunneling through the second quasi-confined state produces larger spin-polarized current. Furthermore a higher magnetic field enhances the polarization degree of the tunneling current.     

B与N掺杂对单层石墨纳米带自旋极化输运的影响

通过第一性原理计算研究了具有锯齿状边沿并且具有反铁磁构型的单层石墨纳米带的自旋极化输运.研究发现,在中心散射区同一位置掺入单个B和N原子,尽管对整个体系磁矩的影响完全相同,但对两个自旋分量电流的影响却完全相反.掺B时,自旋向上的电流显著大于自旋向下的电流;而掺N时,自旋向下的电流显著大于自旋向上的电流.这是由于不管掺B还是掺N都将打破自旋简并,使得导带和价带中自旋向上的能级比自旋向下的能级更高.掺B引入空穴,使完全占据的价带变为部分占据,从而自旋向上的能级正好处于费米能级,使得电子透射能力更强、电流更大,而自旋向下的能级则离费米能级较远使电子透射的能力较弱.掺N则引入电子,使得原来全空的导带变为部分占据,从而费米能级穿过导带中自旋向下的能级,使得自旋向下的电子比自旋向上的电子透射能力更强. 关键词： 自旋极化输运 单层石墨纳米带 第一性原理 非平衡格林函数     

Velocity modulation of electron transport through a ferromagnetic silicene junction

We address velocity-modulation control of electron wave propagation in a normal/ferromagnetic/normal silicene junc tion with local variation of Fermi velocity, where the properties of charge, valley, and spin transport through the junction ar investigated. By matching the wavefunctions at the normal-ferromagnetic interfaces, it is demonstrated that the variation of Fermi velocity in a small range can largely enhance the total conductance while keeping the current nearly fully valley and spin-polarized. Further, the variation of Fermi velocity in ferromagnetic silicene has significant influence on the valley and spin polarization, especially in the low-energy regime. It may drastically reduce the high polarizations, which can b realized by adjusting the local application of a gate voltage and exchange field on the junction.     

Oblique propagation of longitudinal waves in magnetized spin-1/2 plasmas: Independent evolution of spin-up and spin-down electrons

We consider quantum plasmas of electrons and motionless ions. We describe separate evolution of spin-up and spin-down electrons. We present corresponding set of quantum hydrodynamic equations. We assume that plasmas are placed in an uniform external magnetic field. We account different occupation of spin-up and spin-down quantum states in equilibrium degenerate plasmas. This effect is included via equations of state for pressure of each species of electrons. We study oblique propagation of longitudinal waves. We show that instead of two well-known waves (the Langmuir wave and the Trivelpiece–Gould wave), plasmas reveal four wave solutions. New solutions exist due to both the separate consideration of spin-up and spin-down electrons and different occupation of spin-up and spin-down quantum states in equilibrium state of degenerate plasmas.     

Tuning the electronic and magnetic properties of zigzag silicene nanoribbons by 585 defects

Using first-principles calculations, we study the geometric structures, formation energies, electronic and magnetic properties of zigzag silicene nanoribbons (ZSiNRs) with 585 defects. There are two kinds of 585 defects in ZSiNRs referred as 585-I and 585-II, respectively. It is found that no matter which one of the two types, it is the most stable at the edge of the ZSiNR, and at this time it is even more stable than that in an infinite silicene sheet. Utilizing 585 defects, it can transform ZSiNRs from antiferromagnetic semiconductors into metals or half-metals. Especially, defective ZSiNRs may display nearly 100% spin-polarized half-metallic behavior induced by the 585-II defect, which maybe have potential applications in silicon-based spintronic devices. These results present the possibility of modulating the electronic and magnetic properties of ZSiNRs using 585 defects.     

Local electronic structures in electron-doped cuprates with coexisting orders

Motivated by the observation of a so-called non-monotonic gap in recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurement, we study the local electronic structure near impurities in electron-doped cuprates by considering the influence of antiferromagnetic (AF) spin-density-wave (SDW) order. We find that the evolution of density of states (DOS) with AF SDW order clearly indicates the non-monotonic d-wave gap behavior. More interestingly, the local DOS for spin-up is much different from that for spin-down with increasing AF SDW order. As a result, the impurity induced resonance state near the Fermi energy exhibits a spin-polarized feature. These features can be detected by spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy experiments.     

Modulation of magnetic properties of bilayer SnSe with transition-metals doping in the interlayer

We investigate the spin-polarized electronic and magnetic properties of bilayer SnSe with transition-metal (TM) atoms doped in the interlayer by using a first-principles method. It shows that Ni dopant cannot induce the magnetism in the doped SnSe sheet, while the ground state of V, Cr, Mn, Fe and Co doped systems are magnetic and the magnetic moment mainly originates from 3d TM atom. Two types of factors, which reduce the magnetic moment of TM atoms doped in bilayer SnSe, are identified as spin-up channel of the 3d orbital loses electrons to SnSe sheet and spin-down channel of the 3d orbital gains electrons from 4s orbital. The spin polarization is found to be 100% at Fermi level for the Mn and Co atoms doped system, while the Ni-doped system is still a semiconductor with a gap of 0.26 eV. These results are potentially useful for development of spintronic devices.     

Spin-polarized transmission through a mesoscopic ring with a magnetic impurity

Based on one-dimensional quantum waveguide theory we study the symmetry of the spin-polarized transmission through an Aharonov–Bohm ring with a magnetic impurity, in which the spin-exchange interaction between an incident electron and the magnetic impurity leads to spin–flip scattering. It shows that for some special Fermi energies, both spin-up and spin-down transmission coefficients are symmetric under the flux reversal in the spin–flip scattering process and the spin-polarized conductance also is symmetric. In above case, AB oscillations of spin-down transmission and reflection are perfectly identical. The effect of the exchange interaction strength and Fermi wave vector on transmission behavior of spin-state electrons is examined.     

铁磁/半导体(绝缘体)/铁磁异质结中渡越时间与两铁磁层磁矩夹角变化的关系

在群速度概念的基础上, 研究了自旋极化电子隧穿通过铁磁体/半导体(绝缘体)/铁磁体异质结时, 渡越时间随两端铁磁层中磁矩夹角变化的关系. 研究结果表明: 当中间层为半导体层时, 由于半导体层中的Rashba自旋轨道耦合强度的影响, 自旋向上电子和自旋向下电子的渡越时间差会在两铁磁层相对磁矩夹角为π/2和3π/2附近出现一个极小值. 当中间层为绝缘体层时, 势垒高度的变化会导致不同取向的自旋极化电子渡越时间差的变化, 并当势垒高度超过一临界值时发生翻转. 关键词： 铁磁体/半导体(绝缘体)/铁磁体异质结 Rashba自旋轨道耦合强度 渡越时间 磁矩     

Spin-valley-dependent transport and giant tunneling magnetoresistance in silicene with periodic electromagnetic modulations

The transport property of electrons tunneling through arrays of magnetic and electric barriers is studied in silicene.In the tunneling transmission spectrum, the spin-valley-dependent filtered states can be achieved in an incident energy range which can be controlled by the electric gate voltage. For the parallel magnetization configuration, the transmission is asymmetric with respect to the incident angle θ, and electrons with a very large negative incident angle can always transmit in propagating modes for one of the spin-valley filtered states under a certain electromagnetic condition. But for the antiparallel configuration, the transmission is symmetric about θ and there is no such transmission channel. The difference of the transmission between the two configurations leads to a giant tunneling magnetoresistance(TMR) effect.The TMR can reach to 100% in a certain Fermi energy interval around the electrostatic potential. This energy interval can be adjusted significantly by the magnetic field and/or electric gate voltage. The results obtained may be useful for future valleytronic and spintronic applications, as well as magnetoresistance device based on silicene.     

Spin-polarized current through a lateral double quantum dot with spin–orbit interaction

We study the spin-polarized current through a vertical double quantum dot scheme. Both the Rashba spin–orbit (RSO) interaction inside one of the quantum dots and the strong intradot Coulomb interactions on the two dots are taken into account by using the second-quantized form of the Hamiltonian. Due to the existence of the RSO interaction, spin-up and spin-down electrons couple to the external leads with different strengths, and then a spin polarized current can be driven out of the middle lead by controlling a set of structure parameters and the external bias voltage. Moreover, by properly adjusting the dot levels and the external bias voltages, a pure spin current with no accompanying charge current can be generated in the weak coupling regime. We show that the difference between the intradot Coulomb interactions strongly influences the spin-polarized currents flowing through the middle lead and is undesirable in the generation of the net spin current. Based on the RSO interaction, the structure we propose can efficiently polarize the electron spin without the usage of any magnetic field or ferromagnetic material. This device can be used as a spin-battery and is realizable using the present available technologies.     

Can spin-polarized photoemission measure spin properties in condensed matter?

Photoemitted electrons move in a vacuum; their quantum state can be completely characterized in terms of energy, momentum and spin polarization by spin-polarized photoemission experiments. A review article in this issue by Heinzmann and Dil (2012 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 24 173001) considers whether the measured spin properties, i.e. the magnitude and direction of the spin polarization vector, can be traced back to the quantum state from which these electrons originate. The careful conclusion is that they can, which is highly relevant in view of the current interest in these experiments and their application to topological insulators, where the spin-orbit interaction produces spin-polarized surface states.