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arXiv · 1812.09823

Uncovering and tailoring hidden Rashba spin-orbit splitting in centrosymmetric crystals

Linding Yuan·Qihang Liu·Xiuwen Zhang·Jun-Wei Luo·Shu-Shen Li·Alex Zunger
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Abstract

Hidden Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-splittings in centrosymmetric crystals with subunits (sectors) having non-centrosymmetric symmetries (the R-2 and D-2 effects) have been predicted and observed experimentally, but the microscopic mechanism remains unclear. Here we demonstrate that the spin-splitting in R-2 is enforced by specific symmetries (such as the non-symmorphic in the present example) which ensures that the pertinent spin wavefunctions segregate spatially on just one of the two inversion-partner sectors and thus avoid compensation. This finding establishes a common fundamental source for the conventional Rashba (R-1) effect and the R-2 effect, both originating from the local sector symmetries, rather than from the global crystal asymmetry alone for R-1 per se. We further show that the effective Hamiltonian for the R-1 effect is also applicable for the R-2 effect, but applying a symmetry-breaking electric field to an R-2 compound produces different spin-splitting pattern than applying a field to a trivial (non-R-2) centrosymmetric compound.

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Linding Yuan, Qihang Liu, Xiuwen Zhang, Jun-Wei Luo, Shu-Shen Li, Alex Zunger. 2018-12-24. Uncovering and tailoring hidden Rashba spin-orbit splitting in centrosymmetric crystals. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08836-4

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