| In this thesis, we study the electronic transport properties through nanostructures in which the effects of spin-orbit interaction play non-trivial roles. Firstly, we investigate the spin-dependent transport properties of two-dimensional electron-gas systems formed in diluted magnetic semiconductors and in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit interaction in the framework of the scattering matrix approach. We focus on nanostructures consisting of realistic magnetic barriers produced by the deposition of ferromagnetic strips on heterostructures. Secondly, we study ballistic transport through semiconductor quantum point contact systems under different confinement geometries and applied fields. In particular, we investigate how the lateral spin-orbit coupling, introduced by asymmetric lateral confinement potentials, affects the spin polarization of the current. Finally, we present studies of the Coulomb blockade and Kondo regimes of transport of a quantum dot connected to current leads through spin-polarizing quantum point contacts (QPCs). We address the spin-dependent transport properties of the QD structures where electron-electron correlations dominate the electronic dynamics. We show that QPCs can generate finite spin-polarized currents due to the combination of lateral and perpendicular spin-orbit interactions. Our theoretical investigations provide a new approach for exploring spintronic devices, spin polarized sources and spin filters. |
