中国物理B ›› 2016, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (11): 117307-117307.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/25/11/117307

• CONDENSED MATTER: ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE, ELECTRICAL, MAGNETIC, AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES • 上一篇    下一篇

Spin-dependent thermoelectric effect and spin battery mechanism in triple quantum dots with Rashba spin-orbital interaction

Wei-Ping Xu(徐卫平), Yu-Ying Zhang(张玉颖), Qiang Wang(王强), Yi-Hang Nie(聂一行)   

  1. 1 Institute of Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China;
    2 School of Applied Science, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China;
    3 Department of Physics, Taiyuan Normal University, Taiyuan 030001, China
  • 收稿日期:2016-03-09 修回日期:2016-07-06 出版日期:2016-11-05 发布日期:2016-11-05
  • 通讯作者: Yi-Hang Nie E-mail:nieyh@sxu.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11274208 and 11447170).

Spin-dependent thermoelectric effect and spin battery mechanism in triple quantum dots with Rashba spin-orbital interaction

Wei-Ping Xu(徐卫平)1,2, Yu-Ying Zhang(张玉颖)1, Qiang Wang(王强)3, Yi-Hang Nie(聂一行)1   

  1. 1 Institute of Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China;
    2 School of Applied Science, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China;
    3 Department of Physics, Taiyuan Normal University, Taiyuan 030001, China
  • Received:2016-03-09 Revised:2016-07-06 Online:2016-11-05 Published:2016-11-05
  • Contact: Yi-Hang Nie E-mail:nieyh@sxu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11274208 and 11447170).

摘要: We have studied spin-dependent thermoelectric transport through parallel triple quantum dots with Rashba spin-orbital interaction (RSOI) embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer connected symmetrically to leads using nonequilibrium Green's function method in the linear response regime. Under the appropriate configuration of magnetic flux phase and RSOI phase, the spin figure of merit can be enhanced and is even larger than the charge figure of merit. In particular, the charge and spin thermopowers as functions of both the magnetic flux phase and the RSOI phase present quadruple-peak structures in the contour graphs. For some specific configuration of the two phases, the device can provide a mechanism that converts heat into a spin voltage when the charge thermopower vanishes while the spin thermopower is not zero, which is useful in realizing the thermal spin battery and inducing a pure spin current in the device.

关键词: triple quantum dots, thermoelectric effect, pure spin current

Abstract: We have studied spin-dependent thermoelectric transport through parallel triple quantum dots with Rashba spin-orbital interaction (RSOI) embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer connected symmetrically to leads using nonequilibrium Green's function method in the linear response regime. Under the appropriate configuration of magnetic flux phase and RSOI phase, the spin figure of merit can be enhanced and is even larger than the charge figure of merit. In particular, the charge and spin thermopowers as functions of both the magnetic flux phase and the RSOI phase present quadruple-peak structures in the contour graphs. For some specific configuration of the two phases, the device can provide a mechanism that converts heat into a spin voltage when the charge thermopower vanishes while the spin thermopower is not zero, which is useful in realizing the thermal spin battery and inducing a pure spin current in the device.

Key words: triple quantum dots, thermoelectric effect, pure spin current

中图分类号:  (Thermoelectric effects)

  • 73.50.Lw
65.80.-g (Thermal properties of small particles, nanocrystals, nanotubes, and other related systems) 73.21.La (Quantum dots) 73.63.Kv (Quantum dots)