Superefficient electric-field-induced spin splitting in strained p-type quantum wells

Abstract

We investigate theoretically the efficiency of the Rashba effect, i.e. the spin splitting resulting from an electric field. This is the mechanism behind the Datta-Das spin transistor. In the research efforts so far the carriers have usually been taken to be electrons. Here we demonstrate remarkable improvements by several orders of magnitude by utilising holes instead. We also show that the frequently neglected lattice-mismatch between GaAs and AlGaAs can be used to further enhance the efficiency of the spin splitting mechanism. An inverse Rashba effect is also demonstrated.