Effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling on Faraday rotation in an extended Haldane model

TL;DR

This study explores how Rashba spin-orbit coupling influences Faraday rotation spectra in an extended Haldane model, revealing tunable and enhanced magneto-optical effects useful for device design.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of Rashba SOC effects on Faraday rotation in an extended Haldane model, including derivation of a low-energy Hamiltonian and validation with tight-binding calculations.

Findings

FR angle exceeds 4° in C=2 phase without exchange splitting

Rashba SOC tunes the peak position of FR spectra

Exchange splitting leads to flat FR profiles with increased peaks

Abstract

Utilization of Faraday rotation (FR) properties of topological materials offers a promising route toward novel magneto-optical devices. We systematically investigated the effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on FR spectra in an extended Haldane model, which incorporates Rashba SOC and exchange splitting into the original spinless Haldane framework. Using the Kubo formalism, we calculated the FR spectra across the model's rich topological phase diagram. We found that in the Chern number C=2 region, in the absence of exchange splitting, the FR angle can exceed 4$^\circ$ and its peak position is tunable by the Rashba SOC. In contrast, with the inclusion of exchange splitting, a nearly flat FR profile emerges over a broad frequency range, and the FR peak values increase monotonically with the Rashba SOC strength. The Rashba SOC opens additional transition channels, whose net contribution constructively enhances the FR peak. Furthermore, we derived a low-energy effective Hamiltonian expanded up to quadratic terms, the results of which are in good agreement with tight-binding model calculations, thereby validating our numerical results. Our findings suggest that magneto-optical device characteristics can be designed and optimized through Rashba SOC engineering.