Rashba coupling and spin switching through surface states of Dirac semimetals

We study the effect of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling on the Fermi arcs of topological Dirac semimetals. The Rashba coupling is induced by breaking the inversion symmetry at the surface. Remarkably, this coupling could be enhanced by the interaction with the substrate and controlled by an external e...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Baba, Yuriko Caterina, Domínguez-Adame Acosta, Francisco, Platero, Gloria, Molina, Rafael A.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/7880
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/7880
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:538.9
Rashba coupling
Dirac semimetal
Spin switcher
Spintronics
Topological semimetals
Física de materiales
Física del estado sólido
2211 Física del Estado Sólido
Descripción
Sumario:We study the effect of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling on the Fermi arcs of topological Dirac semimetals. The Rashba coupling is induced by breaking the inversion symmetry at the surface. Remarkably, this coupling could be enhanced by the interaction with the substrate and controlled by an external electric field. We study analytically and numerically the rotation of the spin of the surface states as a function of the electron's momentum and the coupling strength. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the spin-dependent two-terminal conductance is presented in the clean limit and with the addition of a random distribution of impurities. Depending on the magnitude of the quadratic terms in the Hamiltonian, the spin-flip conductance may become dominant, thus showing the potential of the system for spintronic applications, since the effect is robust even in the presence of disorder.