Vanishing Zeeman energy in a two-dimensional hole gas

Abstract

A clear signature of Zeeman split states crossing is observed in Landau fan diagram of strained germanium two-dimensional hole gas. The underlying mechanisms are discussed based on a perturbative model yielding a closed formula for the critical magnetic fields. These fields depend strongly on the energy difference between the top-most and the neighboring valence bands and are sensitive to the quantum well thickness, strain, and spin-orbit-interaction. The latter is a necessary feature for the crossing to occur. This framework enables a straightforward quantification of the hole-state parameters from simple measurements, thus paving the way for its use in design and modelling of hole-based quantum devices.