Interface states in two-dimensional electron systems with spin–orbital interaction

Abstract

Interface states at a boundary between regions with different spin–orbit interactions (SOIs) in two-dimensional (2D) electron systems are investigated within the one-band effective mass method with generalized boundary conditions for envelope functions. We have found that the interface states unexpectedly exist even if the effective interface potential equals zero. Depending on the system parameters, the energy of these states can lie in either or both forbidden and conduction bands of bulk states. The interface states have chiral spin texture similar to that of the edge states in 2D topological insulators. However, their energy spectrum is more sensitive to the interfacial potential, the largest effect being produced by the spin-dependent component of the interfacial potential. We have also studied the size quantization of the interface states in a strip of 2D electron gas with SOI and found an unusual (non-monotonic) dependence of the quantization energy on the strip width.