Anisotropic transport in quantum waveguides due to the spin-orbit interactions

We theoretically investigate the charge transport in the quantum waveguides in the presence of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction and the Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction. We find that the interplay between the Rashba spin-orbit interaction and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction can induce a symmetry breaking and consequently leads to the anisotropic charge transport in the quantum waveguides, the conductance through the quantum waveguides depends sensitively on the crystallographic orientations of the quantum waveguides. The anisotropy of the charge transport can even survive in the presence of disorder effect in realistic systems.

NSFC 60525405 10874175Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR, China CityU 100308/08P This work is partly supported by the NSFC Grant Nos. 60525405 and 10874175 and a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR, China (Project No. CityU 100308/08P, and bilateral program between Sweden and China.)