2011/09/21 by Manuel Valin-Rodriguez, Valin-Rodriguez, Manuel
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Graphene research and applications #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Topological Materials and Phenomena
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1109.4663
openalex publication_date 2011/09/21 · openalex created_date 2022/09/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Time-reversal symmetry and rotational invariance in spin space characterize usual non-magnetic conductors. These symmetries give rise, at least, to four-fold degenerate multiplets which, by definition, exhibit a null total spin-momentum helicity. Thus, preventing a net spin transport. A proper choice of geometry along with the intrinsic symmetry of the Bychkov-Rashba spin-orbit interaction can be exploited to effectively reduce these two spin-related symmetries to the timereversal one. It is shown that, in an ideal geometry, a quantum dot with contacts having a specific geometry exhibit a single pair of helical propagating states which makes this system ideal for pure spin current generation. The strong quantization of the quantum dot's level structure would make this mechanism robust against temperature effects.