Conductance oscillations of core-shell nanowires in transversal magnetic fields

• Published in: Physical Review B
• Main Authors: Gudmundsson, Vidar, Manolescu, Andrei, Nemnes, George Alexandru, Sitek, Anna, Erlingsson, Sigurður Ingi, Rosdahl, Tómas
• Other Authors: Raunvísindastofnun (HÍ), Science Institute (UI), Tækni- og verkfræðideild (HR), Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið (HÍ), School of Science and Engineering (RU), School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (UI), Háskólinn í Reykjavík, Háskóli Íslands, Reykjavik University, University of Iceland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Physical Society (APS) 2016
• Subjects: Quantum wells; Tubes; Nanowires; Heterostructures; Nanóvírar; Raffræði; Hálfleiðarar; Iceland; Reykjavik University
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/851; https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.205445

We analyze theoretically electronic transport through a core-shell nanowire in the presence of a transversal magnetic field. We calculate the conductance for a variable coupling between the nanowire and the attached leads and show how the snaking states, which are low-energy states localized along the lines of the vanishing radial component of the magnetic field, manifest their existence. In the strong-coupling regime they induce flux periodic, Aharonov-Bohm-like, conductance oscillations, which, by decreasing the coupling to the leads, evolve into well-resolved peaks. The flux periodic oscillations arise due to interference of the snaking states, which is a consequence of backscattering at either the contacts with leads or magnetic or potential barriers in the wire. This work was financially supported by the research funds of Reykjavik University and of the University of Iceland, and by the Icelandic Research Fund. T.O.R. acknowledges support from a European Research Council Starting Grant. We are thankful to Thomas Schapers and Sebastian Heedt for very interesting discussions [23]. Peer reviewed