Spin–orbit dependence on carrier momentum in (1 1 0) GaAs quantum wells

Surface acoustic waves (SAW) are employed to transport optically generated spin ensembles over distances exceeding View the MathML source in (1 1 0) GaAs quantum wells (QW). The dependence of the spin–orbit (SO) coupling on carrier momentum is investigated by using SAWs to transport spins with well-defined velocity along different directions in the QW plane. For transport along the [0 0 1] direction, the high relaxation rates for the in-plane spin component lead to fast spin decoherence under a magnetic field. For the View the MathML source direction, in contrast, a non-zero average value of the SO internal magnetic field retards the longitudinal spin relaxation.