Intrinsic persistent spin helix state in two-dimensional group-IV monochalcogenide MX monolayers ( M=Sn or Ge and X=S , Se, or Te)

Abstract

Energy-saving spintronics are believed to be implementable on systems hosting the persistent spin helix (PSH) since they support an extraordinarily long spin lifetime of carriers. However, achieving the PSH requires a unidirectional spin configuration in the momentum space, which is practically nontrivial due to the stringent conditions for fine-tuning the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit couplings. Here, we predict that the PSH can be intrinsically achieved on a two-dimensional (2D) group-IV monochalcogenide $MX$ monolayer, a new class of the noncentrosymmetric 2D materials having in-plane ferroelectricity. Due to the ${C}_{2v}$ point-group symmetry in the $MX$ monolayer, a unidirectional spin configuration is preserved in the out-of-plane direction and thus maintains the PSH that is similar to the [110] Dresselhaus model in the [110]-oriented quantum well. Our first-principle calculations on various $MX$ ($M=$ Sn, Ge; $X=$ S, Se, Te) monolayers confirmed that such typical spin configuration is observed, in particular, at near the valence-band maximum where a sizable spin splitting and a substantially small wavelength of the spin polarization are achieved. Importantly, we observe reversible out-of-plane spin orientation under opposite in-plane ferroelectric polarization, indicating that an electrically controllable PSH for spintronic applications is plausible.