Spin-orbit splitting of valence and conduction bands in HgTe quantum wells near the Dirac point

Energy spectra both of the conduction and valence bands of the HgTe quantum wells with a width close to the Dirac point were studied experimentally. Simultaneous analysis of the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations and the Hall effect over a wide range of electron and hole densities yields surprising results: the top of the valence band is strongly split by spin-orbit interaction while the splitting of the conduction band is absent, within experimental accuracy. This holds true for the structures with normal and inverted band ordering. The results obtained are inconsistent with the results of kP calculations, in which the smooth electric field across the quantum well is only reckoned in. It is shown that taking into account the asymmetry of the quantum-well interfaces within a tight-binding method gives reasonable agreement with the experimental data.