Abstract: We study ballistic electron transport through a finite chain of quantum circular rings in the presence of spin-orbit interaction (SOI) of strength alpha. The transmission and reflection coefficients for a single ring, obtained analytical lylead to the conductance for a chain of rings as a function of alpha and of the wave vector k of the incident electron. Due to destructive spin interferences the chain can be totaly opaque for certain ranges of k the width of which depends on the value of alpha. A periodic modulation of a widens up the gaps considerably and produces a nearly binary conductance output.

Abstract: We study ballistic transport of Dirac fermions in silicene through arrays of barriers, of width d, in the presence of an exchange field M and a tunable potential of height U or depth-U. The spin-and valley-resolved conductances as functions of U or M, exhibit resonances away from the Dirac point (DP) and close to it a pronounced dip that becomes a gap when a critical electric field E-z is applied. This gap widens by increasing the number of barriers and can be used to realize electric field-controlled switching of the current. The spin p(s) and valley p(v) polarizations of the current near the DP increase with Ez or M and can reach 100% for certain of their values. These field ranges widen significantly by increasing the number of barriers. Also, ps and pv oscillate nearly periodically with the separation between barriers or wells and can be inverted by reversing M.

Abstract: The low-energy physics of silicene is described by Dirac fermions with a strong spin-orbit interaction and its band structure can be controlled by an external perpendicular electric field E-z. We investigate the commensurability oscillations in silicene modulated by a weak periodic potential V = V-0 cos(2 pi y/a(0)) with a(0) as its period, in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field B and of a weak sinusoidal electric field E-z = E-0 cos(2 pi y/b(0)), where b(0) is its period. We show that the spin and valley degeneracy of the Landau levels is lifted, due to the modulation, and that the interplay between the strong spin-orbit interaction and the potential and electric field modulations can result in spin- and valley-resolved magnetotransport. At very weak magnetic fields the commensurability oscillations induced by a weak potential modulation can exhibit a beating pattern depending on the strength of the homogenous electric field Ez but this is not the case when only Ez is modulated. The Hall conductivity plateaus acquire a step structure, due to spin and valley intra-Landau-level transitions, that is absent in unmodulated silicene. The results are critically contrasted with those for graphene and the two-dimensional electron gas.

Abstract: Electrical transport properties of a two-dimensional electron gas axe studied in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field B modulated weakly and periodically along one direction, B = (B + B0 cos Kx)z, with B0 much less than B, K = 2pi/a, and a being the period of the modulation. B0 is taken constant or proportional to B. The Landau levels broaden into bands and their width, proportional to the modulation strength B0, oscillates with B and gives rise to oscillations in the magnetoresistance at low B. These oscillations reflect the commensurability between the cyclotron diameter at the Fermi level and the period a and consequently hey are distinctly different from the Shubnikov-de Ha.as ones, at higher B, in period and temperature dependence. The bandwidth at the Fermi energy can be one order of magnitude larger, at low B, than that of the electric case for equal modulation strengths. The resulting magnetoresistance oscillations have a much higher amplitude than those of the electric case with which they are out of phase. Explicit asymptotic expressions are derived for the temperature dependence of the transport coefficients. The case when both electric and magnetic modulations are present is also considered. The position of the resulting oscillations depends on the ratio delta between the two modulation strengths. When the modulations are out of phase there is no shift in the position of the oscillations when delta varies and for a particular value of delta the oscillations are suppressed.

Abstract: We study in detail the optoelectronic properties of graphene. Considering the electron interactions with photons and phonons, we employ the mass- and energy-balance equations to self-consistently evaluate the photoinduced carrier densities, the optical conductance, and the transmission coefficient in the presence of a linearly polarized radiation field. We demonstrate that the photoinduced carrier densities increase around the electron-photon-phonon resonant transition. They depend strongly on the radiation intensity and frequency, temperature, and dark carrier density. For short-wavelength radiation (L<3 μm), we obtain the universal optical conductance σ0=e2/(4ℏ). Importantly, there exists an optical-absorption window in the radiation wavelength range 4100 μm, which is induced by different transition energies required for interband and intraband optical absorption. The position and width of this window depend sensitively on the temperature and the carrier density of the system. These theoretical results are in line with recent experimental findings and indicate that graphene exhibits important features not only in the visible regime but also in the midinfrared bandwidth.

Abstract: The electronic properties of monolayer phosphorene are exotic due to its puckered structure and large intrinsic direct band gap. We derive and discuss its band structure in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. Further, we evaluate the magneto-optical Hall and longitudinal optical conductivities as functions of temperature, magnetic field, and Fermi energy, and show that they are strongly influenced by the magnetic field. The imaginary part of the former and the real part of the latter exhibit regular interband oscillations as functions of the frequency omega in the range (h) over bar omega similar to 1.5-2 eV. Strong intraband responses in the latter and weak ones in the former occur at much lower frequencies. The magneto-optical response can be tuned in the microwave-to-terahertz and visible frequency ranges in contrast with a conventional two-dimensional electron gas or graphene in which the response is limited to the terahertz regime. This ability to isolate carriers in an anisotropic structure may make phosphorene a promising candidate for new optical devices.