Spin-Orbit Splitting And Effective Masses In P-Type Gaas Two-Dimensional Hole Gases

We present magnetotransport measurements performed on two-dimensional hole gases embedded in carbon doped p-type GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures grown on [001] oriented substrates. A pronounced beating pattern in the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations proves the presence of strong spin-orbit interaction in the device under study. We estimate the effective masses of spin-orbit-split subbands by measuring the temperature dependence of the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations at different hole densities. While the lighter heavy-hole effective mass is not energy dependent, the heavier heavy-hole effective mass has a prominent energy dependence, indicating a strong spin-orbit induced nonparabolicity of the valence band. The measured effective masses show qualitative agreement with self-consistent numerical calculations.