Self-Assembled Nanowires with Giant Rashba-Type Band Splitting

TL;DR

This study reports on Pt-induced nanowires on Si(110) exhibiting giant Rashba-type band splitting, with potential applications in spintronics and Majorana fermion research, characterized by high-resolution microscopy and photoemission techniques.

Contribution

It demonstrates the formation of self-assembled Pt-Si nanowires with unprecedented Rashba band splitting, advancing the understanding of 1D spin-orbit coupled systems.

Findings

Nanowires are 1.6 nm wide with 2.7 nm separation.

Rashba-type band splitting is among the largest reported.

Nanowires exhibit well-confined 1D electron channels.

Abstract

We investigated Pt-induced nanowires on the Si(110) surface using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and angle-resolved photoemission (ARP). High resolution STM images show a well-ordered nanowire array of 1.6 nm width and 2.7 nm separation. ARP reveals fully occupied one dimensional (1D) bands with a Rashba-type split dispersion. Local dI/dV spectra further indicate well confined 1D electron channels on the nanowires, whose density of states characteristics are consistent with the Rashba-type band splitting. The observed energy and momentum splitting of the bands are among the largest ever reported for Rashba systems, suggesting the Pt-Si nanowire as a unique 1D giant Rashba system. This self-assembled nanowire can be exploited for silicon-based spintronics devices as well as the quest for Majorana Fermions.