Spin-orbit coupling in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructures with a polarization induced two-dimensional electron gas

Ç. Kurdak; H. Cheng; N. Biyikli; Ü. Özgür; H. Morkoç; V. I. Litvinov

doi:10.1117/12.763181

15 February 2008 Spin-orbit coupling in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructures with a polarization induced two-dimensional electron gas

Ç. Kurdak, H. Cheng, N. Biyikli, Ü. Özgür, H. Morkoç, V. I. Litvinov

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6894, Gallium Nitride Materials and Devices III; 68940M (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.763181
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2008, 2008, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Spin-orbit coupling is investigated by magnetoconductivity measurements in wurtzite AlxGa1-xN/AlN/GaN heterostructures with a polarization induced two-dimensional electron gas with different Al concentrations ranging from x = 0.1 to 0.35. By employing the persistent photoconductivity effect and by gating we are able to vary the carrier density of the samples in a controllable manner from 0.8 ×10¹² cm^-2 to 10.6 ×10¹² cm^-2. The samples are characterized using magnetoresistance measurements. To characterize the spin-orbit interaction we measured quantum corrections to conductance at low magnetic fields. All the samples we studied exhibit a weak antilocalization feature at liquid He temperatures. The zero-field electron spin-splitting energies extracted from the weak antilocalization measurements are found to scale with the Fermi wavevector k_F as 2( ακF + γκ_F ³) with effective linear and cubic spin-orbit parameters of -α= 5.01×10⁻¹³ eV • m and γ= 1.6 ×10⁻³¹ eV •m³, respectively. The linear spin-orbit coupling arises from both the bulk inversion asymmetry of the crystal and the structural inversion asymmetry of the heterostructure whereas the cubic spinorbit coupling parameter is purely due to the bulk inversion asymmetry of the wurtzite crystal. We also extracted phase coherence times from the amplitude of the weak antilocalization feature. The measured phase coherence times ranged from 3-40 ps and were in agreement with the theory of decoherence based on electron-electron interactions.

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Ç. Kurdak, H. Cheng, N. Biyikli, Ü. Özgür, H. Morkoç, and V. I. Litvinov "Spin-orbit coupling in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructures with a polarization induced two-dimensional electron gas", Proc. SPIE 6894, Gallium Nitride Materials and Devices III, 68940M (15 February 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.763181

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