Emergence of the strong tunable linear Rashba spin-orbit coupling of two-dimensional hole gases in semiconductor quantum

Two-dimensional hole gases in semiconductor quantum wells are promising platforms for spintronics and quantum computation but suffer from the lack of the $\bf{k}$-linear term in the Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC), which is essential for spin manipulations without magnetism and commonly believed to be a $\bf{k}$-cubic term as the lowest order. Here, contrary to conventional wisdom, we uncover a strong and tunable $\bf{k}$-linear Rashba SOC in two-dimensional hole gases (2DHG) of semiconductor quantum wells by performing atomistic pseudopotential calculations combined with an effective Hamiltonian for a model system of Ge/Si quantum wells. Its maximal strength exceeds 120 meVÅ, comparable to the highest values reported in narrow bandgap III-V semiconductor 2D electron gases, which suffers from short spin lifetime due to the presence of nuclear spin. We also illustrate that this emergent $\bf{k}$-linear Rashba SOC is a first-order direct Rashba effect, originating from a combination of heavy-hole-light-hole mixing and direct dipolar intersubband coupling to the external electric field. These findings confirm Ge-based 2DHG to be an excellent platform towards large-scale quantum computation.

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