In-plane electron g-factor anisotropy in nanowires due to the spin–orbit interaction

•The spin–orbit interaction (SOI) introduces periodic anisotropy in the g factor of the nanowire in the presence of in-plane magnetic field.•For weak SOI, anisotropy is quadratic in the Rashba and Dresselhaus parameters and linear in the subband index.•For large Zeeman splitting, the g factor shows enhanced dependence on the magnetic field which may lead to sign reversal.

We present calculations of the effective g factor of conduction electrons in nanowires subjected to in-plane magnetic field in the presence of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin–orbit interactions. The intersubband coupling due to the spin–orbit interaction introduces anisotropy in the g factor. In the weak regime, our numerical and analytical results indicate that the degree of the anisotropy is quadratic in the Rashba and Dresselhaus parameters and linear in the subband index. In addition, the g factor shows enhanced dependence on the magnetic field which may lead to sign reversal, if the Zeeman splitting exceeds the energy scale characterizing the confinement potential.