Tuning of the spin-orbit interaction in two-dimensional GaAs holes via strain

TL;DR

This study demonstrates how applying small in-plane strain to a two-dimensional GaAs hole system significantly enhances spin-orbit induced spin-splitting, with experimental results closely matching numerical predictions.

Contribution

It provides the first direct measurement of strain-dependent spin-splitting in 2D GaAs holes and confirms the strong tunability of spin-orbit interaction via strain.

Findings

Spin-splitting increases by about 20% with 2 x 10^{-4} strain.

Experimental results agree well with numerical calculations.

Strain effectively controls spin-orbit interaction in 2D GaAs holes.

Abstract

We report direct measurements of the spin-orbit interaction induced spin-splitting in a modulation-doped GaAs two-dimensional hole system as a function of anisotropic, in-plane strain. The change in spin-subband densities reveals a remarkably strong dependence of the spin-splitting on strain, with up to about 20% enhancement of the splitting upon the application of only about 2 x 10^{-4} strain. The results are in very good agreement with our numerical calculations of the strain-induced spin-splitting.