A paradoxical behavior of the linear polarization of luminescence has been observed in CdTe/CdMnTe quantum wells. Although the polarization is induced by a magnetic field, neither the magnitude of the polarization nor the orientation of its plane vary when the field is rotated in the quantum well plane. An analysis shows that this can be accounted for by a low-symmetry perturbation of the crystal lattice that gives rise to a mixing of the valence subbands leading, in turn, to an anisotropy of the in-plane heavy-hole $g$ factor.

• Received 9 October 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.3176