Electron spin splitting in polarization-doped group-III nitrides

The Rashba spin-orbit splitting parameter has been calculated in wurtzite GaN/AlGaN heterostructures. Despite the fact that wide-bandgap semiconductors are expected to have a smaller spin-orbit coupling parameter than that in InGaAs-based III-V materials, the electron spin-split energy in GaN/AlGaN heterostructure is predicted to have the same order of magnitude, due to the strong polarization field at the interface and polarization-induced doping. This, taken together with the existence of room-temperature ferromagnetism in GaN(Mn), could make the GaN-based material system competitive in spintronic applications.