Spin-orbit enhancement in Si/SiGe heterostructures with oscillating Ge concentration

We show that Ge concentration oscillations within the quantum well region of a Si/SiGe heterostructure can significantly enhance the spin-orbit coupling of the low-energy conduction-band valleys. Specifically, we find that for Ge oscillation wavelengths near lambda = 1.57 nm with an average Ge concentration of n over bar Ge = 5% in the quantum well region, a Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling is induced, at all physically relevant electric field strengths, which is over an order of magnitude larger than what is found in conventional Si/SiGe heterostruc-tures without Ge concentration oscillations. This enhancement is caused by the Ge concentration oscillations producing wave-function satellite peaks a distance 27r/lambda away in momentum space from each valley, which then couple to the opposite valley through Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. Our results indicate that the enhanced spin-orbit coupling can enable fast spin manipulation within Si quantum dots using electric dipole spin resonance in the absence of micromagnets. Indeed, our calculations yield a Rabi frequency S2Rabi/B > 500 MHz/T near the optimal Ge oscillation wavelength lambda = 1.57 nm.

Automated summary

We demonstrate that Ge concentration oscillations in the quantum well region of a Si/SiGe heterostructure can greatly enhance the spin-orbit coupling in the low-energy conduction-band valleys. This enhancement is attributed to Ge concentration oscillations generating wave-function satellite peaks in momentum space, which couple to the opposite valley through Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. The improved spin-orbit coupling enables fast spin manipulation in Si quantum dots using electric dipole spin resonance without the need for micro-magnets, with a Rabi frequency S2Rabi/B > 500 MHz/T near the optimal Ge oscillation wavelength lambda = 1.57 nm.