Toward surface orbitronics: Giant orbital magnetism from the orbital Rashba effect at the surface of spmetals

Go D, Hanke JP, Buhl PM, Freimuth F, Bihlmayer G, Lee HW, Mokrousov Y, Bluegel S (2017)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2017

Journal

Scientific Reports Nature Publishing Group: Open Access Journals - Option B

Book Volume: 7

Article Number: 46742

DOI: 10.1038/srep46742

Abstract

As the inversion symmetry is broken at a surface, spin-orbit interaction gives rise to spin-dependent energy shifts -a phenomenon which is known as the spin Rashba effect. Recently, it has been recognized that an orbital counterpart of the spin Rashba effect -the orbital Rashba effect -can be realized at surfaces even without spin-orbit coupling. Here, we propose a mechanism for the orbital Rashba effect based on sp orbital hybridization, which ultimately leads to the electric polarization of surface states. For the experimentally well-studied system of a BiAg2 monolayer, as a proof of principle, we show from first principles that this effect leads to chiral orbital textures in k-space. In predicting the magnitude of the orbital moment arising from the orbital Rashba effect, we demonstrate the crucial role played by the Berry phase theory for the magnitude and variation of the orbital textures. As a result, we predict a pronounced manifestation of various orbital effects at surfaces, and proclaim the orbital Rashba effect to be a key platform for surface orbitronics.

Involved external institutions

Forschungszentrum Jülich / Research Centre Jülich (FZJ) DE Germany (DE) Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) KR Korea, Republic of (KR)

How to cite

APA:

Go, D., Hanke, J.-P., Buhl, P.M., Freimuth, F., Bihlmayer, G., Lee, H.-W.,... Bluegel, S. (2017). Toward surface orbitronics: Giant orbital magnetism from the orbital Rashba effect at the surface of spmetals. Scientific Reports, 7. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep46742

MLA:

Go, Dongwook, et al. "Toward surface orbitronics: Giant orbital magnetism from the orbital Rashba effect at the surface of spmetals." Scientific Reports 7 (2017).

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