Excellent valleytronic properties and nontrivial topological phase in germanene heterostructure

In comparison with transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), germanene is not an ideal valleytronic material due to its very weak spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and tiny band gap. By performing density functional calculations, we studied the heterostructures of germanene/Sb and germanene/SbF in order to augment the valleytronic properties of germanene to a level similar to that of TMDs. Although germanene/Sb has large spin splittings, the system is found to be gapless. By proximity with the fluorine-adsorbed Sb layer, germanene can acquire large SOC. Germanene/SbF has a sizable direct band gap at Dirac points and the Dirac valleys of SbF and germanene are preserved in the heterostructure. The Ge-SbF interaction breaks the inversion symmetry, leading to large spin splittings and Berry curvatures, which are valley contrasting due to time reversal symmetry. We studied the interband optical transitions and found that valley polarization is achievable via valley-selective circular dichroism. The calculated Z ₂ topological invariant further confirms that Ge/SbF is a topological insulator. Our studies illustrate that weak SOC materials can be converted into good valleytronic material and that nontrivial topological phase and valleytronic properties can be simultaneously realized.