Electrical manipulation of spin-orbit coupling in semiconductor heterostructures

The spin-orbit interaction offers an avenue for the electrical generation and manipulation of electron spin polarization in semiconductors without magnetic materials or magnetic fields. In semiconductor heterostructures, the spin-orbit coupling modifies the electron g factor and introduces momentum-dependent spin splittings. In addition, spin-orbit coupling enables the electrical generation of spin polarization through these spin splittings and the spin Hall effect. Here we present an overview of recent measurements of spin dynamics, spin splittings, and electrically generated spin polarization. We demonstrate manipulation of the spin-orbit coupling using electric and magnetic fields to change the orbital motion of the electrons and using strain and quantum confinement to tune the spin splittings in semiconductor heterostructures.