Spin-polarized transport through a laterally coupled Aharonov–Bohm ring with two magnetic impurities

We consider spin-polarized electron transport through an Aharonov-Bohm ring threaded by magnetic flux, side coupled to a quantum waveguide. The ring contains two magnetic defects symmetrically placed with respect to the stub. In the framework of the quantum-waveguide approach, we treat the transport process as a multi-channel scattering problem, the possible spin channels being degenerate in energy. We study both the phase coherence of the electron's wave function, and the entanglement formation between the impurities spins due to the scattering process, in correspondence to various initial spin configurations. To this end, we consider both a suitable spin-flip parameter, and the transmission concurrencies for the outgoing state. In particular, we find that phase coherence is preserved in correspondence to the maximally entangled singlet state of the impurities, in close analogy to what has been found in the literature for a serially coupled ring.

► Spin-polarized transport through a side coupled Aharonov–Bohm ring is studied.
► Phase oscillations and entanglement of two magnetic impurities are analyzed.
► Both non-entangled and maximally entangled initial states are considered.
► Analogies and differences with respect to a serially coupled ring are pointed out.