Spin—orbit interaction in coupled quantum wells

We theoretically investigate the spin—orbit interaction in GaAs/Al x Ga 1− x As coupled quantum wells. We consider the contribution of the interface-related Rashba term as well as the linear and cubic Dresselhaus terms to the spin splitting. For the coupled quantum wells which bear an inherent structure inversion asymmetry, the same probability density distribution of electrons in the two step quantum wells results in a large spin splitting from the interface term. If the widths of the two step quantum wells are different, the electron probability density in the wider step quantum well is considerably higher than that in the narrower one, resulting in the decrease of the spin splitting from the interface term. The results also show that the spin splitting of the coupled quantum well is not significantly larger than that of a step quantum well.