Spin and charge currents and current rectification in Luttinger liquids

Asymmetries in spin and charge transport properties are of great interest for spintronic and electronic applications. We show that externally-driven spin and charge currents in a Luttinger liquid model of a one-dimensional quantum wire are strongly modified by the presence of a localized magnetic or nonmagnetic scatterer. A diode effect appears at low voltages when this scatterer is spatially asymmetric, and a non-monotonous dependence of the current on the voltage is possible.\footnote{D. E. Feldman, S. Scheidl, and V. M. Vinokur, {\it Phys. Rev. Lett.} {\bf 94}, 186809 (2005); B. Braunecker, D. E. Feldman, and J. B. Marston, {\it Phys. Rev. B} {\bf 72}, 125311 (2005)}