Energy levels of an electron in a circular quantum dot in the presence of spin-orbit interactions

Abstract

The two-dimensional circular quantum dot in a double semiconductor heterostructure is simulated by a new axially symmetric smooth potential of finite depth and width. The presence of additional potential parameters in this model allows us to describe the individual properties of different kinds of quantum dots. The influence of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions on electron states in quantum dot is investigated. The total Hamiltonian of the problem is written as a sum of unperturbed part and perturbation. First, the exact solution of the unperturbed Schrödinger equation was constructed. Each energy level of the unperturbed Hamiltonian was doubly degenerated. Further, the analytical approximate expression for energy splitting was obtained within the framework of perturbation theory, when the strengths of two spin-orbit interactions are close. The numerical results show the dependence of energy levels on potential parameters.