Rashba polarization in HgCdTe inversion layers at large depletion charges

Abstract The Rashba effect in metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) structures based on zero-gap HgCdTe is investigated experimentally and theoretically over a wide doping range N A – N D =3×10 15 – 3×10 18 cm −3 . Increase of doping enlarges the magnitude of the effect at the same 2D concentration and strengthens a gate-voltage dependence of the Rashba splitting. The results demonstrate values of Rashba polarization as high as P R ∼0.5 and a capability to control the Rashba effect strength at constant electron concentration.