Quantum transport of Dirac fermions in graphene with a spatially varying Rashba spin–orbit coupling

• Quantum transport through an inhomogeneous Rashba spin–orbit coupling in graphene.
• Rashba strength is characterized by linearly varying within its borders.
• Amplitude of conductance oscillations reduces with increasing border thickness.
• Magnitude of conductance increases with increasing border thickness.
• Fano factor can be modified by the border thickness of RSO region fundamentally.

We theoretically study electronic transport through a region with inhomogeneous Rashba spin–orbit (RSO) coupling placed between two normal regions in a monolayer graphene. The inhomogeneous RSO region is characterized by linearly varying RSO strength within its borders and constant RSO strength in the central region. We calculate the transmission properties within the transfer matrix approach. It is shown that the amplitude of conductance oscillations reduces and at the same time the magnitude of conductance increases with increasing border thickness. We also investigate how the Fano factor can be modified by the border thickness of RSO region.

In the borders of Rashba spin-orbit (RSO) region, the strength of RSO coupling changes linearly but it is constant in the central region. It is shown that the conductance and Fano factor modify via the border thickness.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide