2016/03/29 by Hernán Santos, A. Latgé, J. E. Alvarellos +1
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Carbon nanotube #Chiral anomaly #Chirality (physics) #Condensed matter physics #Electron #Geometry #Graphene #Graphene research and applications #Homogeneous space #Materials science #Nanotechnology #Physics #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spin polarization #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.93.165424
published as Phys. Rev. B 93, 165424 (2016) · Accepted to Physical Review B. 11 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables
arxiv created 2016/03/29 · openalex publication_date 2016/04/18 · arxiv updated 2016/04/28 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We study the effect of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction in the quantum transport of carbon nanotubes with arbitrary chiralities. For certain spin directions, we find a strong spin-polarized electrical current that depends on the diameter of the tube, the length of the Rashba region, and on the tube chirality. Predictions for the spin-dependent conductances are presented for different families of achiral and chiral tubes. We have found that different symmetries acting on spatial and spin variables have to be considered in order to explain the relations between spin-resolved conductances in carbon nanotubes. These symmetries are more general than those employed in planar graphene systems. Our results indicate the possibility of having stable spin-polarized electrical currents in absence of external magnetic fields or magnetic impurities in carbon nanotubes.