Publication
The long-range ordered surface alloy Bi/Ag(111) is found to exhibit a giant spin splitting of its surface electronic structure due to spin-orbit coupling, as is determined by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. First-principles electronic structure calculations fully confirm the experimental findings. The effect is brought about by a strong in-plane gradient of the crystal potential in the surface layer, in interplay with the structural asymmetry due to the surface-potential barrier. As a result, the spin polarization of the surface states is considerably rotated out of the surface plane.
Marco Grioni, Arnaud Magrez, Oleg Yazyev, Daniel Gosalbez Martinez, Helmuth Berger, Alberto Crepaldi, Mauro Fanciulli, Gianmarco Gatti
Majed Chergui, Henrik Moodysson Rønnow, Marco Grioni, Oleg Yazyev, Luc Testa, Daniel Gosalbez Martinez, Philippe Bugnon, Alberto Crepaldi, Luca Moreschini, Mauro Fanciulli, Simon Karl Moser, Gianmarco Gatti, Serhii Polishchuk