High-harmonic generation in spin-orbit coupled systems

We study high-harmonic generation in two-dimensional electron systems with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling and derive harmonic generation selection rules with the help of group theory. Based on the bandstructures of these minimal models and explicit simulations we reveal how the spin-orbit parameters control the cutoff energy in the high-harmonic spectrum. We also show that the magnetic field and polarization dependence of this spectrum provides information on the magnitude of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling parameters. The shape of the Fermi surface can be deduced at least qualitatively and if only one type of spin-orbit coupling is present, the coupling strength can be determined.