Longitudinal and transverse mobilities of $n$-type monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides in the presence of proximity-induced interactions at low temperature

TL;DR

This paper provides a theoretical analysis of electronic transport in n-type monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, revealing how proximity-induced interactions influence valley-dependent Hall effects and mobility at low temperatures.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed theoretical framework incorporating Rashba spin-orbit coupling and exchange interactions to analyze valley-specific transport phenomena in monolayer TMDs.

Findings

Rashba spin-orbit coupling induces in-plane spin components in spin-split subbands.

Exchange interaction lifts valley degeneracy, affecting electron energy levels.

Hall mobility can be controlled by tuning Rashba parameter, Zeeman field, and carrier density.

Abstract

We present a detailed theoretical investigation on the electronic transport properties of $n$-type monolayer (ML) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) at low temperature in the presence of proximity-induced interactions such as Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) and the exchange interaction. The electronic band structure is calculated by solving the Schr\"{o}dinger equation with a $\mathbf{k}\cdot\mathbf{p}$ Hamiltonian, and the electric screening induced by electron-electron interaction is evaluated under a standard random phase approximation approach. In particular, the longitudinal and transverse or Hall mobilities are calculated by using a momentum-balance equation derived from a semi-classical Boltzmann equation, where the electron-impurity interaction is considered as the principal scattering center at low temperature. The obtained results show that the RSOC can induce the in-plane spin components for spin-split subbands in different valleys, while the exchange interaction can lift the energy degeneracy for electrons in different valleys. The opposite signs of Berry curvatures in the two valleys would introduce opposite directions of Lorentz force on valley electrons. As a result, the transverse currents from nondegenerate valleys can no longer be canceled out so that the transverse current or Hall mobility can be observed. Interestingly, we find that at a fixed effective Zeeman field, the lowest spin-split conduction subband in ML-TMDs can be tuned from one in the $K'$-valley to one in the $K$-valley by varying the Rashba parameter. The occupation of electrons in different valleys also varies with changing carrier density. Therefore, we can change the magnitude and direction of the Hall current by varying the Rashba parameter, effective Zeeman field, and carrier density by, e.g., the presence of a ferromagnetic substrate and/or applying a gate voltage.