Determination of Rashba-coupling strength for surface two-dimensional electron gas in InAs nanowires

•Energy spectrum of carriers in nanowire placed in magnetic field is studied.•General formula for one-dimensional ballistic thermopower is derived.•Ballistic conductance and thermopower reveal specific features due to strong SOC.•Approach for determination of SOC strength in ballistic InAs nanowires is proposed.

A key concept in the field of semiconductor spintronics is an electric field control of spins via the spin–orbit coupling (SOC) and the SOC strength governs efficiency of this control. We propose a new approach that allows the experimental determination of the Rashba SOC strength for ballistic InAs nanowires. The energy spectrum and ballistic transport of carriers through the nanowire with surface two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a homogeneous magnetic field are studied. A general formula for the linear-response one-dimensional ballistic thermopower is derived in the case of complex subband structure. The ballistic conductance and the thermopower are shown to reveal specific features due to strong SOC that allows us to propose a method for the SOC strength determination.