Scattering matrix of a three-terminal junction in one dimension

Gate potential-controlled current switching in graphene Y-junctions

In this work we investigate the ballistic transport of electrons through three-terminal graphene-based devices. The system consists of a Y-shaped junction formed by three armchair-edged graphene nanoribbons with a rectangular gate potential applied to one of the output branches, whereby current control can be established by the controlling of the refractive index in graphene p-n junctions. Transport properties are obtained by using the Landauer-Büttiker formalism and the tight-binding model within the nearest-neighbor approximation, which allows the calculation of the conductance as function of the Fermi energy, the applied potential, and the system size, as well as the current density. The results demonstrate that the applied electric field can tune the current transmission between the input and two output leads and, consequently, the proposed system acts as a current switch.

Landauer-type transport theory for interacting quantum wires: application to carbon nanotube y junctions

We propose a Landauerlike theory for nonlinear transport in networks of one-dimensional interacting quantum wires (Luttinger liquids). A concrete example of current experimental focus is given by carbon nanotube Y junctions. Our theory has three basic ingredients that allow one to explicitly solve this transport problem: (i) radiative boundary conditions to describe the coupling to external leads, (ii) the Kirchhoff node rule describing charge conservation, and (iii) density matching conditions at every node.