Antiferromagnetic order in a semiconductor quantum well with spin-orbit coupling

An argument is made on the existence of a low-temperature itinerant antiferromagnetic (AF) spin alignment, rather than persistent helical (PH), in the ground state of a two dimensional electron gas in a semiconductor quantum well with linear spin-orbit Rashba-Dresselhaus interaction at equal coupling strengths, alpha. This result is obtained on account of the opposite-spin single-particle state degeneracy at k = 0 that makes the spin instability possible. A theory of the resulting magnetic phase is formulated within the Hartree-Fock approximation of the Coulomb interaction. In the AF state the direction of the fractional polarization is obtained to be aligned along the displacement vector of the single-particle states. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.