Spin-Orbit Coupling and Anisotropy of Spin Splitting in Quantum Dots

In lateral quantum dots, the combined effect of both Dresselhaus and Bychkov-Rashba spin-orbit coupling is equivalent to an effective magnetic field ±BSO which has the opposite sign for sz=±1/2 spin electrons. When the external magnetic field is perpendicular to the planar structure, the field BSO generates an additional splitting for electron states as compared to the spin splitting in the in-plane field orientation. The anisotropy of spin splitting has been measured and then analyzed in terms of spin-orbit coupling in several AlGaAs/GaAs quantum dots by means of resonant tunneling spectroscopy. From the measured values and sign of the anisotropy we are able to determine the dominating spin-orbit coupling mechanism.