Investigation of the intrinsic hidden spin texture and spin-state segregation in centrosymmetric monolayer dichalcogenide: effectiveness of the electric-field approach

TL;DR

This study uses an electric-field-based method within density functional theory to analyze hidden spin textures and spin-layer segregation in centrosymmetric monolayer dichalcogenides, providing new insights and a robust technique for spintronic research.

Contribution

It introduces an electric-field approach as a precise alternative to traditional methods for studying hidden spin textures and spin-layer segregation in centrosymmetric monolayer materials.

Findings

Electric-field method accurately reveals hidden spin textures.

Spatial distribution of spin-segregated states is characterized.

Insights into symmetry rules governing spin textures are provided.

Abstract

The emergence of hidden spin polarization in centrosymmetric nonmagnetic crystals due to local symmetry breaking has created new opportunities for potential spintronic applications and for enhancing our understanding of mechanisms to electrically manipulate spin-related phenomena. In this work, we investigate within density functional theory the properties of the hidden spin texture and spin-layer segregation in a prototype centrosymmetric dichalcogenide-monolayer material using an electric-field-based method. This method is shown to yield a precise and robust alternative to traditional layer-projected spin-polarization techniques for obtaining the intrinsic hidden spin textures in such materials. Moreover, it gives access at the same time to the spatial distribution within the monolayer of the individual spin-segregated states responsible for the hidden spin textures, not provided by other techniques. With this approach we determine and study the hidden spin textures of the upper valence bands of the PtTe2 monolayer together with the spatial behavior of the probability densities and spin polarization densities of the corresponding maximally segregated spin states. This combined study enabled by the electric-field method yields new insights into the mechanisms controlling the spin-layer segregation and resulting hidden spin texture in such systems. We also discuss the symmetry rules governing the shape in the Brillouin zone of the hidden spin texture, which can be straightforwardly predicted within the present framework.