Spin-dependent electron transport in a periodically stubbed quantum wire in
the presence of Rashba spin-orbit interaction (SOI) is studied via the
nonequilibrium Green's function method combined with the Landauer-Buttiker
formalism. The coexistence of spin filtering, charge and spin switching are
found in the considered system. The mechanism of these transport properties is
revealed by analyzing the total charge density and spin-polarized density
distributions in the stubbed quantum wire. Furthermore, periodic spin-density
islands with high polarization are also found inside the stubs, owing to the
interaction between the charge density islands and the Rashba SOI-induced
effective magnetic field. The proposed nanostructure may be utilized to devise
an all-electrical multifunctional spintronic device.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure