Spin-orbit interaction in Au structures of various dimensionalities

TL;DR

This study investigates how spin-orbit interaction influences the electronic properties of gold structures across various dimensions, revealing significant effects dependent on symmetry and dimensionality, with implications for spintronic devices and synthesis.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive ab initio analysis of spin-orbit effects in gold nanostructures of different dimensionalities, highlighting potential for spintronic applications and synthesis of new gold cage structures.

Findings

SO interaction reduces conduction channels in achiral SWGNTs

Spin splitting occurs at Fermi level in chiral SWGNTs

Gold cage structures may be experimentally synthesizable

Abstract

Variation of the geometrical and electronic properties of the gold materials in different dimensions has been investigated by $ab$ $initio$ method, taking into account the spin-orbit (SO) interaction. It is found that SO effects in different dimensional Au materials depend greatly on fundamental symmetry and dimensionality. For single walled gold nanotubes (SWGNTs), SO interaction decreases significantly the conducting channel number of achiral SWGNT (4, 0), and leads to spin splitting at Fermi level of chiral SWGNT, indicating that quasi-1D SWGNT can be a good candidate for the spin-electron devices. Furthermore, our results suggest that cage cluster might be synthesizable experimentally by taking gold tube structure as parent material.