2013/07/21 by Inti Sodemann, A. H. MacDonald, Sodemann, Inti +1
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1307.5489
openalex publication_date 2013/07/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The orientation of the electron-nematic states discovered in the quantum Hall regime of GaAs [001] growth-direction quantum wells is pinned by a weak native source of anisotropy. In this Letter we explain that this property, which has remained mysterious over more than a decade of research, follows from the presence of both Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions. The hard transport direction of the nematic state is determined by the relative sign of the Rashba and Dresselhaus coefficients, and coincides with either the [110] or the [110] crystallographic direction. Our theoretical estimate of the pinning energy is in agreement with experimental studies of the competition between native pinning and intentional pinning by an in-plane magnetic field.