Anisotropic spin transport in two-terminal mesoscopic rings: Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions

Miao Wang and Kai Chang

Phys. Rev. B 77, 125330 – Published 20 March 2008

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the spin transport in two-terminal mesoscopic rings in the presence of both the Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI) and the Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction (DSOI). We find that the interplay between the RSOI and DSOI breaks the original cylindric symmetry of the mesoscopic rings and consequently leads to the anisotropic spin transport, i.e., the conductance is sensitive to the positions of the incoming and outgoing leads. The anisotropic spin transport can survive even in the presence of disorder caused by impurity elastic scattering in a realistic system.