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Giant Ambipolar Rashba Effect in the Semiconductor BiTeI

A. Crepaldi, L. Moreschini, G. Autès, C. Tournier-Colletta, S. Moser, N. Virk, H. Berger, Ph. Bugnon, Y. J. Chang, K. Kern, A. Bostwick, E. Rotenberg, O. V. Yazyev, and M. Grioni
Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 096803 – Published 30 August 2012
Physics logo See Synopsis: Skin-Deep Spintronics
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Abstract

We observe a giant spin-orbit splitting in the bulk and surface states of the noncentrosymmetric semiconductor BiTeI. We show that the Fermi level can be placed in the valence or in the conduction band by controlling the surface termination. In both cases, it intersects spin-polarized bands, in the corresponding surface depletion and accumulation layers. The momentum splitting of these bands is not affected by adsorbate-induced changes in the surface potential. These findings demonstrate that two properties crucial for enabling semiconductor-based spin electronics—a large, robust spin splitting and ambipolar conduction—are present in this material.

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  • Received 4 May 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.096803

© 2012 American Physical Society

Synopsis

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Skin-Deep Spintronics

Published 30 August 2012

Controlling the surface termination of a material with a large spin-orbit effect could provide a way to select a particular spin state for spintronic devices.

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Authors & Affiliations

A. Crepaldi1, L. Moreschini2, G. Autès3, C. Tournier-Colletta1, S. Moser1, N. Virk3, H. Berger1, Ph. Bugnon1, Y. J. Chang2,4, K. Kern1,5, A. Bostwick2, E. Rotenberg2, O. V. Yazyev3, and M. Grioni1

  • 1Institute of Condensed Matter Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 2Advanced Light Source (ALS), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 3Institute of Theoretical Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 4Department of Physics, University of Seoul, Seoul 130-743, Korea
  • 5Max-Plank-Institut für Festkörperforschung, D-70569, Stuttgart, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 109, Iss. 9 — 31 August 2012

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