We report a study of the gate-induced
spin precession in an In0.53Ga0.47As two dimensional
electron gas, using a Monte-Carlo transport model. The precession vector originates from the
spin-orbit coupling existing at a III-V hetero-interface, usually denoted as Rashba interaction.
Contrary to the case of a one dimensional electron gas, the precession vector is randomized by
the scattering events, which leads to a non negligible loss of spin coherence for an initially
spin-polarized electron population moving along a conduction channel. However, we show
that by operating at the liquid nitrogen temperature, or by reducing the channel width to a
value close to 0.1 µm, the gate-controlled spin-polarization remains high enough to enable the
investigation of the physics of spin-related phenomena in a ferromagnet/semiconductor
structure.