TY - JOUR
T1 - Transition-metal dichalcogenides for spintronic applications
AU - Zibouche, Nourdine
AU - Kuc, Agnieszka
AU - Musfeldt, Janice
AU - Heine, Thomas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/10/1
Y1 - 2014/10/1
N2 - Spin-orbit splitting in transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayers is investigated on the basis of density-functional theory within explicit two-dimensional periodic boundary conditions. The spin-orbit splitting reaches few hundred meV and increases with the size of the metal and chalcogen atoms, resulting in nearly 500 meV for WTe2. Furthermore, we find that similar to the band gap, spin-orbit splitting changes drastically under tensile strain. In centrosymmetric transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers, spin-orbit splitting is suppressed by the inversion symmetry. However, it could be induced if the inversion symmetry is explicitly broken, e.g. by a potential gradient normal to the plane, as it is present in heterobilayers (Rashbasplitting). In such systems, the spin-orbit splitting could be as large as for the heavier monolayer that forms heterobilayer. These properties of transition metal dichalcogenide materials suggest them for potential applications in opto-, spin- and straintronics.
AB - Spin-orbit splitting in transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayers is investigated on the basis of density-functional theory within explicit two-dimensional periodic boundary conditions. The spin-orbit splitting reaches few hundred meV and increases with the size of the metal and chalcogen atoms, resulting in nearly 500 meV for WTe2. Furthermore, we find that similar to the band gap, spin-orbit splitting changes drastically under tensile strain. In centrosymmetric transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers, spin-orbit splitting is suppressed by the inversion symmetry. However, it could be induced if the inversion symmetry is explicitly broken, e.g. by a potential gradient normal to the plane, as it is present in heterobilayers (Rashbasplitting). In such systems, the spin-orbit splitting could be as large as for the heavier monolayer that forms heterobilayer. These properties of transition metal dichalcogenide materials suggest them for potential applications in opto-, spin- and straintronics.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908474578&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84908474578&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/andp.201400137
DO - 10.1002/andp.201400137
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84908474578
VL - 526
SP - 395
EP - 401
JO - Annalen der Physik
JF - Annalen der Physik
SN - 0003-3804
IS - 9-10
ER -