Effect of impurities on charge and heat transport in tubular nanowires

Abstract

We calculate the charge and heat currents carried by electrons, originating
from a temperature gradient and a chemical potential difference between the two
ends of tubular nanowires with different geometries of the cross-sectional areas:
circular, square, triangular, and hexagonal. We consider nanowires based on InAs
semiconductor material, and use the Landauer-B ̈uttiker approach to calculate the
transport quantities. We include impurities in the form of delta scatterers and compare
their effect for different geometries. The results depend on the quantum localization
of the electrons along the edges of the tubular prismatic shell. For example, the effect
of impurities on the charge and heat transport is weaker in the triangular shell than
in the hexagonal shell, and the thermoelectric current in the triangular case is several
times larger than in the hexagonal case, for the same temperature gradient.