Strong Spin-Orbit Interaction Induced in Graphene by Monolayer WS₂

2017/10/31 by Taro Wakamura, Francesco Reale, Pawel Palczynski +3 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mes-hall

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.120.106802

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 106802 (2018) · 5 pages, 4 figures

arxiv created 2018/04/11 · arxiv updated 2018/04/12

Abstract

We demonstrate strong anisotropic spin-orbit interaction (SOI) in graphene induced by monolayer WS₂. Direct comparison between graphene/monolayer WS₂ and graphene/bulk WS₂ system in magnetotransport measurements reveals that monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) can induce much stronger SOI than bulk. Detailed theoretical analysis of the weak-antilocalization curves gives an estimated spin-orbit energy (E_{\rm so}) higher than 10 meV. The symmetry of the induced SOI is also discussed, and the dominant z → -z symmetric SOI can only explain the experimental results. Spin relaxation by the Elliot-Yafet (EY) mechanism and anomalous resistance increase with temperature close to the Dirac point indicates Kane-Mele (KM) SOI induced in graphene.

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