Relativistic effects and fully spin-polarized Fermi surface at the Tl/Si(111) surface

We present a detailed analysis of the relativistic electronic structure and the momentum-dependent spin-polarization of the Tl/Si(111) surface. Our first-principle calculations reveal the existence of fully spin-polarized electron pockets associated to the huge spin-splitting of metallic surface ban...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Ibañez-Azpiroz, Julen, Eiguren, Asier, Bergara, Aitor
Format: article
Publication Date:2011
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/50806
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/50806
Access Level:Open access
Description
Summary:We present a detailed analysis of the relativistic electronic structure and the momentum-dependent spin-polarization of the Tl/Si(111) surface. Our first-principle calculations reveal the existence of fully spin-polarized electron pockets associated to the huge spin-splitting of metallic surface bands. The calculated spin-polarization shows a very complex structure in the reciprocal space, strongly departing from simple theoretical model approximations. Interestingly, the electronic spin-state close to the Fermi surface is polarized along the surface perpendicular direction and reverses its orientation between different electron pockets. © 2011 American Physical Society.