NEGATIVE MAGNETORESISTANCE OF A SILICON 2DEG UNDER IN-PLANE MAGNETIC FIELD DUE TO SPIN-SPLITTING OF UPPER SUBBANDS

We examine the effect of an in-plane magnetic field on the resistance of a 2-dimensional electron system confined in a silicon quantum well when the Fermi energy is tuned through the upper valley-subband edge while the electrons are otherwise valley-polarized. In contrast to previous experiments on valley-degenerate systems which only showed positive magnetoresistance, when the Fermi energy is at or near the upper valley-subband edge, the magnetoresistance is found to show a distinct negative contribution which is interpreted as being due to spin polarization of the upper valley-subband.