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Published on: July 5, 2019
Control of Spin Helix Symmetry in Semiconductor Quantum Wells by Crystal Orientation
Michael Kammermeier1, Paul Wenk1, John Schliemann1
1Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
Abstract:
We investigate the possibility of spin-preserving symmetries due to the interplay of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling in n-doped zinc-blende semiconductor quantum wells of general crystal orientation. It is shown that a conserved spin operator can be realized if and only if at least two growth direction Miller indices agree in modulus. The according spin-orbit field has in general both in-plane and out-of-plane components and is always perpendicular to the shift vector of the corresponding persistent spin helix. We also analyze higher-order effects arising from the Dresselhaus term, and the impact of our results on weak (anti)localization corrections.
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