EXTREME IN-PLANE ANISOTROPY OF THE HEAVY-HOLE G FACTOR IN (001)-CDTE/CDMNTE QUANTUM WELLS

A paradoxical behavior of the linear polarization of luminescence has been observed inCdTeyCdMnTe quantum wells. Although the polarization is induced by a magnetic field, neither themagnitude of the polarization nor the orientation of its plane vary when the field is rotated in thequantum well plane. An analysis shows that this can be accounted for by a low-symmetry perturbationof the crystal lattice that gives rise to a mixing of the valence subbands leading, in turn, to ananisotropy of the in-plane heavy-hole