Orbital-Driven Rashba Effect in a Binary Honeycomb Monolayer AgTe
Abstract
The Rashba effect is fundamental to the physics of two-dimensional electron systems and underlies a variety of spintronic phenomena. It has been proposed that the formation of Rashba-type spin splittings originates microscopically from the existence of orbital angular momentum (OAM) in the Bloch wave functions. Here, we present detailed experimental evidence for this OAM-based origin of the Rashba effect by angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) and two-photon photoemission experiments for a monolayer AgTe on Ag(111). Using quantitative low-energy electron diffraction analysis, we determine the structural parameters and the stacking of the honeycomb overlayer with picometer precision. Based on an orbital-symmetry analysis in ARPES and supported by first-principles calculations, we unequivocally relate the presence and absence of Rashba-type spin splittings in different bands of AgTe to the existence of OAM.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- May 2020
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.176401
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1912.05210
- Bibcode:
- 2020PhRvL.124q6401U
- Keywords:
-
- Condensed Matter - Materials Science
- E-Print:
- Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 176401 (2020)