Screening Length and Quantum and Transport Mobilities of a Heterojunction in the Presence of the Rashba Effect

Abstract

A theoretical approach is developed to study the electronic and transport properties of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the presence of spin-orbit interaction (SOI) induced by the Rashba effect. The standard random-phase approximation is employed to calculate the screening length caused by electron-electron interaction in a spin-split 2DEG. The quantum and transport mobilities in different spin branches are evaluated using the momentum-balance equation derived from a Boltzmann equation. Here the electron interactions with both the remote and background impurities are taken into account in an InAlAs/InGaAs heterojunction at low temperatures. It is found that in the presence of SOI, the screening length and quantum and transport mobilities differ in different spin branches. The interesting features of these important spintronic properties are presented and analyzed. Moreover, the theoretical results are compared with those obtained experimentally.