18 research outputs found
Effects of spin-orbit coupling on quantum transport
The effect of spin-orbit coupling on various quantum transport phenomena is considered. The main topics discussed are: * How spin-orbit coupling can induce shot noise through trajectory splitting. * How spin-orbit coupling can degrade electron-hole entanglement (created by a tunnel barrier) by mode mixing. * Mesoscopic Spin Hall effect: longitudinal charge current leads to transverse spin currents in a chaotic electron cavity which has universal fluctuations around a zero mean. * How smooth disorder increases the conductivity of a graphene sheet. In addition a detailed introduction is given to both the origin of spin-orbit coupling and the consequences of time reversal symmetry in quantum systems.UBL - phd migration 201
Stroboscopic model of transport through a quantum dot with spin-orbit scattering
Wetensch. publicatieFaculteit der Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappe
Klein tunneling in graphene: optics with massless electrons
This article provides a pedagogical review on Klein tunneling in graphene,
i.e. the peculiar tunneling properties of two-dimensional massless Dirac
electrons. We consider two simple situations in detail: a massless Dirac
electron incident either on a potential step or on a potential barrier and use
elementary quantum wave mechanics to obtain the transmission probability. We
emphasize the connection to related phenomena in optics, such as the
Snell-Descartes law of refraction, total internal reflection, Fabry-P\'erot
resonances, negative refraction index materials (the so called meta-materials),
etc. We also stress that Klein tunneling is not a genuine quantum tunneling
effect as it does not necessarily involve passing through a classically
forbidden region via evanescent waves. A crucial role in Klein tunneling is
played by the conservation of (sublattice) pseudo-spin, which is discussed in
detail. A major consequence is the absence of backscattering at normal
incidence, of which we give a new shorten proof. The current experimental
status is also thoroughly reviewed. The appendix contains the discussion of a
one-dimensional toy model that clearly illustrates the difference in Klein
tunneling between mono- and bi-layer graphene.Comment: short review article, 18 pages, 14 figures; v3: references added,
several figures slightly modifie
Evanescent wave transport and shot noise in graphene: ballistic regime and effect of disorder
We have investigated electrical transport and shot noise in graphene field
effect devices. In large width over length ratio graphene strips, we have
measured shot noise at low frequency ( = 600--850 MHz) in the temperature
range of 4.2--30 K. We observe a minimum conductivity of
and a finite and gate dependent Fano factor reaching the universal value of 1/3
at the Dirac point, i.e. where the density of states vanishes. These findings
are in good agreement with the theory describing that transport at the Dirac
point should occur via evanescent waves in perfect graphene samples with large
. Moreover, we show and discuss how disorder and non-parallel leads affect
both conductivity and shot noise.Comment: Extended version (19 pages, 10 figures) of Phys. Rev. Lett. 100,
196802 (2008). Additional data on the effect of disorder and non-parallel
leads. Submitted for publication in Journal of Low Temperature Physics for
the Proceedings of the International Symposium on Quantum Phenomena and
Devices at Low Temperatures (ULTI 2008), Espoo, Finlan
Eigenvalues of a one-dimensional Dirac operator pencil
We study the spectrum of a one-dimensional Dirac operator pencil, with a coupling constant in front of the potential considered as the spectral parameter. Motivated by recent investigations of graphene waveguides, we focus on the values of the coupling constant for which the kernel of the Dirac operator contains a square integrable function. In physics literature such a function is called a confined zero mode. Several results on the asymptotic distribution of coupling constants giving rise to zero modes are obtained. In particular, we show that this distribution depends in a subtle way on the sign variation and the presence of gaps in the potential. Surprisingly, it also depends on the arithmetic properties of certain quantities determined by the potential. We further observe that variable sign potentials may produce complex eigenvalues of the operator pencil. Some examples and numerical calculations illustrating these phenomena are presented