THE EVALUATION OF ELECTRIC SPIN SPLITTING OF SURFACE SUBBANDS OF HGCDTE

Recent work has shown that the electronic sub-bands of HgCdTe in an inversion layer potential are split for k/sub /// not=0 by spin-orbit coupling into a pair of distinct bands E0+or-(k/sub ///). Parameters related to the splitting were evaluated in the approximative terms of the Bychkov-Rashba model. The authors calculate the splitting with reference to a microscopic model to uncover the explicit dependence on k/sub /// and N s. They show that the relevant quantity for the coupling is not the mean electric field averaged over the interface potential, (Ez), but the expectation value of the product of Ez and a material-specific coupling parameter alpha 46 which is z-dependent at the surface.