The Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction (SOI) of a series of two-dimensional electron gases hosted in GaAs/AlGaAs and InGaAs/GaAs (001) quantum wells (QWs) is measured by monitoring the precession frequency of the spins as a function of an in-plane electric field. The measured spin-orbit-induced spin splitting is linear in the drift velocity, even in the regime where the cubic Dresselhaus SOI is important. We relate the measured splitting to the Dresselhaus coupling parameter $\gamma$, the QW confinement, the Fermi wave number $k_{\text{F}}$, and strain effects. From this, $\gamma$ is determined quantitatively, including its sign.

• Received 28 September 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.82.235320