Upstanding Rashba spin in honeycomb lattices: Electrically reversible surface spin polarization

Abstract

The spin-split states subject to Rashba spin-orbit coupling in two-dimensional systems have long been accepted as pointing inplane and perpendicular to the corresponding wave vectors. This is in general true for free electron model, but exceptions do exist elsewhere. Within the tight-binding model, we unveil the unusual upstanding behavior of those Rashba spins around $\bar{K}$ and ${\bar{K}}^{\prime }$ points in honeycomb lattices. Our calculation (i) explains the recent experiment of the Tl/Si(111)-$(1\times 1)$ surface alloy [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{102}, 096805 (2009)], where abrupt upstanding spin states near $\bar{K}$ are observed, and (ii) predicts an electrically reversible out-of-plane surface spin polarization.

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References in corpus (6)

• The electronic properties of graphene
• Strong spin-orbit splitting on Bi surfaces
• Graphene with Structure-Induced Spin-Orbit Coupling: Spin-Polarized States, Spin Zero Modes, and Quantum Hall Effect
• Can Non-Equilibrium Spin Hall Accumulation be Induced in Ballistic Nanostructures?
• Imaging mesoscopic spin Hall flow: Spatial distribution of local spin currents and spin densities in and out of multiterminal spin-orbit coupled semiconductor nanostructures
• Intrinsic spin-Hall accumulation in honeycomb lattices: Band structure effects

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Spin-dependent Klein tunneling in graphene: Role of Rashba spin-orbit coupling
• Relativistic effects and fully spin-polarized Fermi surface at the Tl/Si(111) surface
• Current-induced spin polarization in graphene due to Rashba spin-orbit interaction
• Spin-flip transitions induced by time-dependent electric fields in surfaces with strong spin-orbit interaction
• Sublattice asymmetry and spin-orbit interaction induced out-of-plane spin polarization of photoelectrons
• Theory of Unconventional Spin States in Surfaces with Non-Rashba Spin-Orbit Interaction
• Chiral tunneling in single layer graphene with Rashba spin-orbit coupling: spin currents
• Local structural distortions and their role in superconductivity in SmFeAsO${}_{1-x}$F${}_x$ superconductors
• Non-degenerate valleys in the half-metallic ferromagnet Fe/WS${}_2$