Coherent charge transport in ferromagnet/semiconductor nanowire/ferromagnet double barrier junctions with the interplay of Rashba spin–orbit coupling, induced superconducting pair potential, and external magnetic field

Abstract

By solving the Bogoliubov–de Gennes equation, the influence of the interplay of Rashba spin–orbit coupling, induced superconducting pair potential, and external magnetic field on the spin-polarized coherent charge transport in ferromagnet/semiconductor nanowire/ferromagnet double barrier junctions is investigated based on the Blonder–Tinkham–Klapwijk theory. The coherence effect is characterized by the strong oscillations of the charge conductance as a function of the bias voltage or the thickness of the semiconductor nanowire, resulting from the quantum interference of incoming and outgoing quasiparticles in the nanowire. Such oscillations can be effectively modulated by varying the strength of the Rashba spin–orbit coupling, the thickness of the nanowire, or the strength of the external magnetic field. It is also shown that two different types of zero-bias conductance peaks may occur under some particular conditions, which have some different characteristics and may be due to different mechanisms.