Giant Spin-Orbit Bowing inGaAs1−xBix

Abstract

We report a giant bowing of the spin-orbit splitting energy ${\Delta }_0$ in the dilute ${\mathrm{GaAs}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Bi}}_x$ alloy for Bi concentrations ranging from 0% to 1.8%. This is the first observation of a large relativistic correction to the host electronic band structure induced by just a few percent of isoelectronic doping in a semiconductor material. It opens up the possibility of tailoring the spin-orbit splitting in semiconductors for spintronic applications.