scholarly journals Ultrathin two-dimensional superconductivity with strong spin–orbit coupling

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (38) ◽  
pp. 10513-10517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyoungdo Nam ◽  
Hua Chen ◽  
Tijiang Liu ◽  
Jisun Kim ◽  
Chendong Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Energy Gap ◽  
Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy ◽  
Orbit Coupling ◽  
Spin Splitting ◽  
Scanning Tunneling ◽  
Spin Orbit Coupling ◽  
Spin Orbit ◽  
Critical Magnetic Fields ◽  
Strong Spin

We report on a study of epitaxially grown ultrathin Pb films that are only a few atoms thick and have parallel critical magnetic fields much higher than the expected limit set by the interaction of electron spins with a magnetic field, that is, the Clogston–Chandrasekhar limit. The epitaxial thin films are classified as dirty-limit superconductors because their mean-free paths, which are limited by surface scattering, are smaller than their superconducting coherence lengths. The uniformity of superconductivity in these thin films is established by comparing scanning tunneling spectroscopy, scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry, double-coil mutual inductance, and magneto-transport, data that provide average superfluid rigidity on length scales covering the range from microscopic to macroscopic. We argue that the survival of superconductivity at Zeeman energies much larger than the superconducting gap can be understood only as the consequence of strong spin–orbit coupling that, together with substrate-induced inversion-symmetry breaking, produces spin splitting in the normal-state energy bands that is much larger than the superconductor’s energy gap.

scholarly journals Evidence for a quantum spin Hall phase in graphene decorated with Bi2Te3 nanoparticles

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. eaau6915 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Hatsuda ◽  
H. Mine ◽  
T. Nakamura ◽  
J. Li ◽  
R. Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy ◽  
Quantum Spin ◽  
Orbit Coupling ◽  
Photoelectron Spectra ◽  
Scanning Tunneling ◽  
Spin Orbit Coupling ◽  
Spin Orbit ◽  
Edge States ◽  
Graphene Devices ◽  
Quantum Spin Hall

Realization of the quantum spin Hall effect in graphene devices has remained an outstanding challenge dating back to the inception of the field of topological insulators. Graphene’s exceptionally weak spin-orbit coupling—stemming from carbon’s low mass—poses the primary obstacle. We experimentally and theoretically study artificially enhanced spin-orbit coupling in graphene via random decoration with dilute Bi2Te3 nanoparticles. Multiterminal resistance measurements suggest the presence of helical edge states characteristic of a quantum spin Hall phase; the magnetic field and temperature dependence of the resistance peaks, x-ray photoelectron spectra, scanning tunneling spectroscopy, and first-principles calculations further support this scenario. These observations highlight a pathway to spintronics and quantum information applications in graphene-based quantum spin Hall platforms.

Strong spin-orbit coupling and Zeeman spin splitting in angle dependent magnetoresistance of Bi2Te3

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (22) ◽  
pp. 223111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rik Dey ◽  
Tanmoy Pramanik ◽  
Anupam Roy ◽  
Amritesh Rai ◽  
Samaresh Guchhait ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Orbit Coupling ◽  
Spin Splitting ◽  
Spin Orbit Coupling ◽  
Spin Orbit ◽  
Strong Spin

scholarly journals Observation of chiral surface excitons in a topological insulator Bi2Se3

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (10) ◽  
pp. 4006-4011 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.-H. Kung ◽  
A. P. Goyal ◽  
D. L. Maslov ◽  
X. Wang ◽  
A. Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polarized Light ◽  
Orbit Coupling ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Composite Particles ◽  
Spin Orbit Coupling ◽  
Spin Orbit ◽  
Excitation Energies ◽  
Circularly Polarized Light ◽  
Pl Emission ◽  
Strong Spin

The protected electron states at the boundaries or on the surfaces of topological insulators (TIs) have been the subject of intense theoretical and experimental investigations. Such states are enforced by very strong spin–orbit interaction in solids composed of heavy elements. Here, we study the composite particles—chiral excitons—formed by the Coulomb attraction between electrons and holes residing on the surface of an archetypical 3D TI,Bi2Se3. Photoluminescence (PL) emission arising due to recombination of excitons in conventional semiconductors is usually unpolarized because of scattering by phonons and other degrees of freedom during exciton thermalization. On the contrary, we observe almost perfectly polarization-preserving PL emission from chiral excitons. We demonstrate that the chiral excitons can be optically oriented with circularly polarized light in a broad range of excitation energies, even when the latter deviate from the (apparent) optical band gap by hundreds of millielectronvolts, and that the orientation remains preserved even at room temperature. Based on the dependences of the PL spectra on the energy and polarization of incident photons, we propose that chiral excitons are made from massive holes and massless (Dirac) electrons, both with chiral spin textures enforced by strong spin–orbit coupling. A theoretical model based on this proposal describes quantitatively the experimental observations. The optical orientation of composite particles, the chiral excitons, emerges as a general result of strong spin–orbit coupling in a 2D electron system. Our findings can potentially expand applications of TIs in photonics and optoelectronics.

scholarly journals Layer- and gate-tunable spin-orbit coupling in a high-mobility few-layer semiconductor

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. eabe2892
Author(s):  
Dmitry Shcherbakov ◽  
Petr Stepanov ◽  
Shahriar Memaran ◽  
Yaxian Wang ◽  
Yan Xin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electric Field ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Orbit Coupling ◽  
Spin Splitting ◽  
Spin Orbit Coupling ◽  
Spin Orbit ◽  
Quantum Oscillations ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Spin Degeneracy

Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is a relativistic effect, where an electron moving in an electric field experiences an effective magnetic field in its rest frame. In crystals without inversion symmetry, it lifts the spin degeneracy and leads to many magnetic, spintronic, and topological phenomena and applications. In bulk materials, SOC strength is a constant. Here, we demonstrate SOC and intrinsic spin splitting in atomically thin InSe, which can be modified over a broad range. From quantum oscillations, we establish that the SOC parameter α is thickness dependent; it can be continuously modulated by an out-of-plane electric field, achieving intrinsic spin splitting tunable between 0 and 20 meV. Unexpectedly, α could be enhanced by an order of magnitude in some devices, suggesting that SOC can be further manipulated. Our work highlights the extraordinary tunability of SOC in 2D materials, which can be harnessed for in operando spintronic and topological devices and applications.

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