Helicoidal Fields and Spin Polarized Currents in CNT-DNA Hybrids

Abstract

We report on theoretical studies of electronic transport in the archetypical molecular hybrid formed by DNA wrapped around single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Using a Green's function formalism in a $\pi$-orbital tight-binding representation, we investigate the role that spin-orbit interactions play on the CNT in the case of the helicoidal electric field induced by the polar nature of the adsorbed DNA molecule. We find that spin polarization of the current can take place in the absence of magnetic fields, depending strongly on the direction of the wrapping and length of the helicoidal field. These findings open new routes for using CNTs in spintronic devices.

4 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Spin-orbit coupling in curved graphene, fullerenes, nanotubes, and nanotube caps
• Coupling of Spin and Orbital Motion of Electrons in Carbon Nanotubes
• Spin selective transport through helical molecular systems
• Helical modes in carbon nanotubes generated by strong electric fields
• Spin-Orbit Effects in Carbon-Nanotube Double Quantum Dots
• Intrinsic spin-orbit interactions in flat and curved graphene nanoribbons
• Carbon Nanotubes in Helically Modulated Potentials

Cited by in corpus (12)

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• Spin-polarized currents in corrugated graphene nanoribbons
• All-electrical production of spin-polarized currents in carbon nanotubes: Rashba spin-orbit interaction
• Defect-enhanced Rashba spin-polarized currents in carbon nanotubes
• Helical liquid in carbon nanotubes wrapped with DNA molecules
• Valley selecting current partition at zero-line mode of quantum anomalous Hall topologies
• Spin-orbit coupling and the static polarizability of single-wall carbon nanotubes
• Controlling the Interferometers of Zero-Line Modes in Graphene by Pseudomagnetic field
• Deformation of Nanowires and Nanotubes