Spin Accumulation in a Double Quantum Dot Aharonov-Bohm Interferometer

We investigate the spin accumulation in a double quantum dot Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interferometer in which both the Rashba spin--orbit (RSO) interaction and intradot Coulomb interaction are taken into account. Due to the existence of the RSO interaction, the electron, flowing through different arms of the AB ring, will acquire a spin-dependent phase factor in the tunnel-coupling strengths. This phase factor will induce various interesting interference phenomena. It is found that the electrons of the different spin directions can accumulate in the two dots by properly adjusting the bias and the intradot level with a fixed RSO interaction strength. Moreover, both the magnitude and direction of the spin accumulation in each dot can be conveniently controlled and tuned by the gate voltage acting on the dot or the bias on the lead.