Two-dimensional magnetoexcitons in the presence of spin-orbit coupling

O. Olendski, Q. L. Williams, T. V. Shahbazyan

Published 2007-10-21, updated 2008-01-31Version 2

We study theoretically the effect of spin-orbit coupling on quantum well excitons in a strong magnetic field. We show that, in the presence of an in-plane field component, the excitonic absorption spectrum develops a double-peak structure due to hybridization of bright and dark magnetoexcitons. If the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit constants are comparable, the magnitude of splitting can be tuned in a wide interval by varying the azimuthal angle of the in-plane field. We also show that the interplay between spin-orbit and Coulomb interactions leads to an anisotropy of exciton energy dispersion in the momentum plane. The results suggest a way for direct optical measurements of spin-orbit parameters.