Giant spin splittings in GaSb/AlSb L-valley quantum wells -: art. no. 121306

For GaSb/AlSb heterostructures with the absolute conduction minimum deriving from the L point of the bulk Brillouin zone, we predict zero-field spin splittings well exceeding 10 meV, about one order of magnitude larger than typical values resulting from the Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit coupling terms near the zone center. Electronic structure calculations are performed within an improved tight-binding model and the main results can be reproduced in a 4x4 k.p Hamiltonian including band parameters and k-linear spin splittings derived from the GaSb bulk. Our results provide direct insight into L-valley heterostructures, indicating a promising direction for future research on spintronics.