Electronic and spin properties of hole point contacts

Abstract

We have studied theoretically the effect of a tuneable lateral confinement on two-dimensional hole systems realised in III-V semiconductor heterostructures. Based on the 4 × 4 Luttinger description of the valence band, we have calculated quasi-onedimensional (quasi-1D) hole subband energies and anisotropic Landé g -factors. Confinement-induced band mixing results in the possibility to manipulate electronic and spin properties of quasi-1D hole states over a much wider range than is typically possible for confined conduction-band electrons. Our results are relevant for recent experiments where source-drain-bias spectroscopy was used to measure Zeeman splitting of holes in p-type quantum point contacts. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)