Evidence of Spin-Filtering in Quantum Constrictions with Spin-Orbit Interaction

Sunwoo Kim, Yoshiaki Hashimoto, Yasuhiro Iye, Shingo Katsumoto

Published 2011-02-23Version 1

A new type of blockade effect - spin-orbit blockade (SOB) - is found in the conduction of a quantum dot (QD) made of a material with spin-orbit interaction. The blockade arises from spin-filtering effect in a quantum point contact (QPC), which is a component of the QD. Hence the appearance of the blockade itself evidences the spin-filtering effect in the QPC. The lower bound of filtering efficiency is estimated to be above 80%.