Rashba Effect at Magnetic Metal Surfaces

TL;DR

This paper presents experimental and theoretical evidence of the Rashba effect at Gd(0001) surfaces, showing enhancement and sign change with oxide layers, and discusses implications for surface magnetism studies.

Contribution

It provides the first combined experimental and ab initio analysis of the Rashba effect on magnetic metal surfaces, highlighting the influence of surface layers and charge density gradients.

Findings

Rashba effect observed at Gd(0001) surface

Rashba parameter changes sign with oxide layer formation

Sign of Rashba splitting depends on magnetization direction

Abstract

We give experimental and theoretical evidence of the Rashba effect at the magnetic rare-earth metal surface Gd(0001). The Rashba effect is substantially enhanced and the Rashba parameter changes its sign when a metal-oxide surface layer is formed. The experimental observations are quantitatively described by ab initio calculations that give a detailed account of the near-surface charge density gradients causing the Rashba effect. Since the sign of the Rashba splitting depends on the magnetization direction, the findings open up new opportunities for the study of surface and interface magnetism.