First-Principles Wannier Representation of Proximity Effects

Abstract

Proximity effects in layered heterostructures are usually represented by static parameters fitted to first-principles bands, which discards the energy dependence of the virtual hybridization, the momentum transfer, and the spatial structure. We overcome this limitation by deriving a dynamical proximity operator $\mathcal{V}(\mathbf{k},\mathbf{k}';\omega)$ directly from density functional theory, downfolding the Kohn-Sham Hamiltonian of the heterostructure onto a fixed low-energy target Wannier subspace and reproducing its spectrum exactly within that subspace. The construction separates direct matrix elements from virtual hybridization through all remaining states. In graphene on hBN/Co(0001), virtual hybridization generates more than $99\%$ of the proximity exchange and gives it a resonant frequency dependence set by the Co $d$ states. In graphene/PtSe$_2$ it resolves a sublattice-selective intervalley coupling with a $\sqrt{3}\times\sqrt{3}$ charge modulation, and in graphene/WSe$_2$ a bond-resolved Rashba coupling of $0.24$~meV, against below $1$~$\mu$eV for the direct projection alone. Our results expose the limitations of static projections and establish a fitting-free microscopic foundation for low-energy modeling, spin-relaxation theory, and transport calculations.