Weak antilocalization and spin-orbit interaction in a In0.53Ga0.47As/InP quantum well in the persistent photoconductivity state

Abstract

Low-field quantum magnetoresistance of two-dimensional electron gas at the In0.53Ga0.47As/InP interface was studied in the persistent photoconductivity state. The sign-alternating property of the dependences of the magnetoresistance on the magnetic field indicates that the spin-orbit interaction affects the quantum well conductivity. The mechanism caused by the electric field built in at the interface was shown to contribute dominantly to the spin-orbit scattering frequency 1/τso. This is the Rashba mechanism, which is linear in the electron wave vector. These data allowed us to estimate the parameters of spin-orbit splitting of the energy spectrum as α=(84±10) Å2 (by the Rashba mechanism) and γ=(73±5) eV Å3 (by the Dyakonov-Perel and Dresselhaus mechanisms).