Dresden 2009 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 48: Focused Session: Spin-Orbit Interaction at Surfafces: From the Rashba Effect to Topological States of Matter I

O 48.2: Topical Talk

Donnerstag, 26. März 2009, 11:00–11:30, HSZ 02

Giant Spin-Splitting on Metallic and Semiconducting Surfaces — •Christian R. Ast — Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Stuttgart, Germany

One of the goals in the emerging field of spintronics is to manipulate the electron spin without the use of magnetic fields. This can be achieved at surfaces and interfaces where the inversion symmetry is broken so that a strong spin-orbit interaction can lift the spin-degeneracy (Rashba-Bychkov Model). Such a spin-splitting can further be enhanced by additional contributions from an in-plane inversion asymmetry as has been found for the Bi/Ag(111) surface alloy. The observed spin-splitting in this system is more than an order of magnitude stronger than in the Au(111) surface state. This introduces a new component in the mechanism of the Rashba-type spin-splitting. The strength of the splitting can be tuned by mixing different elements in the surface alloy. In particular, this concept can be transferred onto a semiconducting substrate in order to make it more interesting for the broad field of spintronics.