George Kirczenow

Quantized Thermal Conductance of Dielectric Quantum Wires

Using the Landauer formulation of transport theory, we predict that dielectric quantum wires should exhibit quantized thermal conductance at low temperatures in a ballistic phonon regime. The quantum of thermal conductance is universal, independent of the characteristics of the material, and equal to

Ballistic spin-polarized transport and Rashba spin precession in semiconductor nanowires

{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{2}{k}_{B}^{2}T/3h

The smallest molecular switch.

where

Molecular spintronics: spin-dependent electron transport in molecular wires

{k}_{B}

Theory of the conductance of ballistic quantum channels

is the Boltzmann constant,

Landauer theory, inelastic scattering, and electron transport in molecular wires

h

ELECTRON STANDING-WAVE FORMATION IN ATOMIC WIRES

is Plancks constant, and

Current-driven conformational changes, charging, and negative differential resistance in molecular wires

T

Ideal spin filters: A theoretical study of electron transmission through ordered and disordered interfaces between ferromagnetic metals and semiconductors

is the temperature. Quantized thermal conductance should be experimentally observable in suspended nanostructures adiabatically coupled to reservoirs, devices that can be realized at the present time.

Multiterminal molecular wire systems: A self-consistent theory and computer simulations of charging and transport

We present numerical calculations of the ballistic spin-transport properties of quasi-one-dimensional wires in the presence of the spin-orbit (Rashba) interaction. A tight-binding analog of the Rashba Hamiltonian which models the Rashba effect is used. By varying the robustness of the Rashba coupling and the width of the wire, weak and strong coupling regimes are identified. Perfect electron spin-modulation is found for the former regime, regardless of the incident Fermi energy and mode number. In the latter however, the spin-conductance has a strong energy dependence due to a nontrivial subband intermixing induced by the strong Rashba coupling. This would imply a strong suppression of the spin-modulation at higher temperatures and source-drain voltages. The results may be of relevance for the implementation of quasi-one-dimensional spin transistor devices.