Driven electron g-factor anisotropy in layered III–V semiconductors: Interfacing, tunnel coupling, and structure inversion asymmetry effects

Abstract

A key piece for spintronic applications, the so-called electron g-factor engineering is still predominantly based on the semiconductor bulk g factor and its dependence on the bandgap energy. In nanostructures, however, the mesoscopic confinement introduces exclusive anisotropies, transforming scalar g factors into tensors, enabling different renormalization mechanisms as routes for fine-tuning the electron g factor. These questions we address in this comparative theoretical analysis between the obtained electron g-factor (tensor) anisotropies for realistic InAs|AlSb- and In0.53Ga0.47As|InP-based multilayers. The electron g-factor anisotropy, i.e., the difference between g factors for magnetic fields parallel and perpendicular to the interfaces, is analytically calculated via perturbation theory using the envelope-function approach based on the eight-band Kane model. Effects from bulk, interfacing, tunnel coupling, and structure inversion asymmetry are systematically introduced within a transparent comparative view; differences between obtained anisotropies, such as in the magnitude, sign, and other fine details, are analyzed in terms of the heterostructure parameters, mapped over different confining and tunnel-coupling regimes without requiring elaborated numerical computations.