Spin-orbit gaps in the s and p orbital bands of an artificial honeycomb lattice

TL;DR

This paper investigates the effects of intrinsic and Rashba spin-orbit coupling on artificial honeycomb lattices with s and p orbital bands, revealing topological gaps and edge states through extended muffin-tin calculations.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive method to include intrinsic and Rashba spin-orbit coupling in muffin-tin models for both periodic and finite honeycomb systems, advancing the understanding of topological properties.

Findings

Strong band gaps opened by spin-orbit coupling across the Brillouin zone.

Robust edge states observed despite Rashba coupling.

Potential for topological flat bands in engineered honeycomb lattices.

Abstract

Muffin-tin methods have been instrumental in the design of honeycomb lattices that show, in contrast to graphene, separated s and in-plane p bands, a p orbital Dirac cone, and a p orbital flat band. Recently, such lattices have been experimentally realized using the 2D electron gas on Cu(111). A possible next avenue is the introduction of spin-orbit coupling to these systems. Intrinsic spin-orbit coupling is believed to open topological gaps, and create a topological flat band. Although Rashba coupling is straightforwardly incorporated in the muffin-tin approximation, intrinsic spin-orbit coupling has only been included either for a very specific periodic system, or only close to the Dirac point. Here, we introduce general intrinsic and Rashba spin-orbit terms in the Hamiltonian for both periodic and finite-size systems. We observe a strong band opening over the entire Brillouin zone between the p orbital flat band and Dirac cone hosting a pronounced edge state, robust against the effects of Rashba spin-orbit coupling.