Lateral-electric-field-induced spin polarization in a suspended GaAs quantum point contact

The conductance of a GaAs-based suspended quantum point contact (QPC) equipped with lateral side gates has been experimentally studied in the absence of the external magnetic field. The half-integer conductance plateau (0.5 x 2e(2)/h) has been observed when an asymmetric voltage between the side gates is applied. The appearance of this plateau has been attributed to the spin degeneracy lifting caused by the spin-orbit coupling associated with the lateral electric field in the asymmetrically biased QPC. We have experimentally demonstrated that, despite the relatively small g-factor in GaAs, the observation of the spin polarization in the GaAs-based QPC became possible after the suspension due to the enhancement of the electron-electron interaction and the effect of the electric field guiding. These features are caused by a partial confinement of the electric field lines within a suspended semiconductor layer with a high dielectric constant. Published by AIP Publishing.