Nanostructural origin of giant Rashba effect in intercalated graphene
- To enhance the spin-orbit interaction in graphene by a proximity effect without compromising the quasi-free-standing dispersion of the Dirac cones means balancing the opposing demands for strong and weak graphene-substrate interaction. So far, only the intercalation of Au under graphene/Ni(111) has proven successful, which was unexpected since graphene prefers a large separation (similar to 3.3 angstrom) from a Au monolayer in equilibrium. Here, we investigate this system and find the solution in a nanoscale effect. We reveal that the Au largely intercalates as nanoclusters. Our density functional theory calculations show that the graphene is periodically stapled to the Ni substrate, and this attraction presses graphene and Au nanoclusters together. This, in turn, causes a Rashba effect of the giant magnitude observed in experiment. Our findings show that nanopatterning of the substrate can be efficiently used for engineering of spin-orbit effects in graphene.
Author details: | Maxim KrivenkovORCiDGND, Evangelos GoliasORCiD, Dmitry MarchenkoORCiDGND, Jaime Sanchez-BarrigaORCiDGND, Gustav BihlmayerORCiD, Oliver RaderORCiDGND, Andrei VarykhalovORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1583/aa7ad8 |
ISSN: | 2053-1583 |
Title of parent work (English): | 2D Materials |
Publisher: | IOP Publ. Ltd. |
Place of publishing: | Bristol |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2017/07/21 |
Publication year: | 2017 |
Release date: | 2022/04/11 |
Tag: | DFT; Ni(111); STM; gold intercalation; nanoclusters; quasi-free-standing graphene; spin-orbit interaction |
Volume: | 4 |
Issue: | 3 |
Number of pages: | 11 |
Funding institution: | Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [SPP 1459]; Impuls- und Vernetzungsfonds der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft [HRJRG-408] |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Physik und Astronomie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 52 Astronomie / 520 Astronomie und zugeordnete Wissenschaften |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Green Open-Access |