Rashba field in GaN

Abstract

We discuss problem of Rashba field in bulk GaN and in GaN/AlGaN two-dimensional electron gas, basing on results of X-band microwave resonance experiments. We point at large difference in spin-orbit coupling between bulk material and heterostructures. We observe coupled plasmon-cyclotron resonance from the two-dimensional electron gas, but no spin resonance, being consistent with large zero-field spin splitting due to the Rashba field reported in literature. In contrast, small anisotropy of g-factor of GaN effective mass donors indicates rather weak Rashba spin-orbit coupling in bulk material, not exceed 400 Gauss, alpha_BIA < 4*10^-13 eVcm. Furthermore, we observe new kind of electron spin resonance in GaN, which we attribute to surface electron accumulation layer. We conclude that the sizable Rashba field in GaN/AlGaN heterostructures originates from properties of the interface.