2010/09/30 by Wan, J., Cahay, M., Debray, P. +1
#FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1009.6211
A non-equilibrium Green's function formalism is used to study in detail the ballistic conductance of asymmetrically biased side-gated quantum point contacts (QPCs) in the presence of lateral spin-orbit coupling and electron-electron interaction for a wide range of QPC dimensions and gate bias voltage. Various conductance anomalies are predicted below the first quantized conductance plateau (G0=2e2/h) which occur due to spontaneous spin polarization in the narrowest portion of the QPC. The number of observed conductance anomalies increases with increasing aspect ratio (length/width) of the QPC constriction. These anomalies are fingerprints of spin textures in the narrow portion of the QPC.