The effect of Rashba spin–orbit interaction on the spin-polarized transport of zigzag phosphorene nanoribbons
Nasim Rahmani-Ivriq, Amirhossein Ahmadkhan Kordbacheh
Abstract
Abstract Spin transport features of zigzag phosphorene nanoribbons (ZPNRs) are investigated in the presence of the perpendicular electric field ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>E</mml:mi> <mml:mi>z</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> ), the exchange field <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mfenced close=")" open="("> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mfenced> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , and Rashba spin–orbit interaction (RSOI). To this end, the non-equilibrium Green’s function method is used based on the tight-binding model, which can be described by the Landauer–Büttiker formalism. Interestingly, spin-filtering and spin-flipping are observed only for incoming up (down) spins in the presence of the exchange field with anti-parallel configuration (parallel configuration). Furthermore, changing the magnitude and direction of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>E</mml:mi> <mml:mi>z</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> for the parallel and anti-parallel configurations of the exchange field in the presence of RSOI can induce and control the ON/OFF state of the current, the band gap, the spin polarization, spin-flipping, and spin-filtering in the system. The obtained results could be utilized to construct novel nanostructures and also to maximize the efficiency of spintronic devices based on ZPNRs.