2012/10/09 by Julen Ibañez-Azpiroz, Asier Eiguren, E. Ya. Sherman +2
Physics and Astronomy · #Magnetic properties of thin films #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.109.156401
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 156401 (2012) · 5 pages, 4 figures
openalex publication_date 2012/10/09 · arxiv created 2012/10/13 · arxiv updated 2012/10/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present a comprehensive theoretical investigation of the light absorption rate at a Pb/Ge(111)\ensuremath-\ensuremathβ√(3)\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi√(3)R30\ifmmode^∘\else\textdegree\fi surface with strong spin-orbit coupling. Our calculations show that electron spin-flip transitions cause as much as 6% of the total light absorption, representing 1 order of magnitude enhancement over Rashba-like systems. Thus, we demonstrate that a substantial part of the light irradiating this nominally nonmagnetic surface is attenuated in spin-flip processes. Remarkably, the spin-flip transition probability is structured in well-defined hot spots within the Brillouin zone, where the electron spin experiences a sudden 90\ifmmode^∘\else\textdegree\fi rotation. This mechanism offers the possibility of an experimental approach to the spin-orbit phenomena by optical means.