Field-induced ultrafast modulation of Rashba coupling at room temperature in ferroelectric $\alpha$-GeTe(111)

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that femtosecond light pulses can ultrafastly modulate the Rashba coupling in ferroelectric GeTe(111) at room temperature, enabling rapid control of ferroelectric polarization for spintronics applications.

Contribution

It provides the first direct observation of femtosecond-scale Rashba coupling modulation in a ferroelectric semiconductor using time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.

Findings

13% enhancement of lattice distortion via surface photovoltage

Ultrafast modulation of Rashba coupling on femtosecond timescale

Potential for controlling ferroelectric polarization in quantum heterostructures

Abstract

Rashba materials have appeared as an ideal playground for spin-to-charge conversion in prototype spintronics devices. Among them, $\alpha$-GeTe(111) is a non-centrosymmetric ferroelectric (FE) semiconductor for which a strong spin-orbit interaction gives rise to giant Rashba coupling. Its room temperature ferroelectricity was recently demonstrated as a route towards a new type of highly energy-efficient non-volatile memory device based on switchable polarization. Currently based on the application of an electric field, the writing and reading processes could be outperformed by the use of femtosecond (fs) light pulses requiring exploration of the possible control of ferroelectricity on this timescale. Here, we probe the room temperature transient dynamics of the electronic band structure of $\alpha$-GeTe(111) using time and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (tr-ARPES). Our experiments reveal an ultrafast modulation of the Rashba coupling mediated on the fs timescale by a surface photovoltage (SPV), namely an increase corresponding to a 13 % enhancement of the lattice distortion. This opens the route for the control of the FE polarization in $\alpha$-GeTe(111) and FE semiconducting materials in quantum heterostructures.