Abstract
Persistent spin texture (PST) is the property of some materials to maintain a uniform spin configuration in the momentum space. This property has been predicted to support an extraordinarily long spin lifetime of carriers promising for spintronics applications. Here, we predict that there exists a class of noncentrosymmetric bulk materials, where the PST is enforced by the nonsymmorphic space group symmetry of the crystal. Around certain high symmetry points in the Brillouin zone, the sublattice degrees of freedom impose a constraint on the effective spin–orbit field, which orientation remains independent of the momentum and thus maintains the PST. We illustrate this behavior using density-functional theory calculations for a handful of promising candidates accessible experimentally. Among them is the ferroelectric oxide BiInO3—a wide band gap semiconductor which sustains a PST around the conduction band minimum. Our results broaden the range of materials that can be employed in spintronics.
Highlights
Persistent spin texture (PST) is the property of some materials to maintain a uniform spin configuration in the momentum space
Often a special role is played by the spin–orbit coupling (SOC), which on its own has inspired a vast number of predictions, discoveries, and novel concepts[4]
Electron motion is accompanied by spin precession around the unidirectional spin–orbit field, resulting in a spatially periodic mode known as a persistent spin helix (PSH)[13]
Summary
Persistent spin texture (PST) is the property of some materials to maintain a uniform spin configuration in the momentum space. The quantum materials derive their properties from the interplay between the electron, spin, lattice, and orbital degrees of freedom, resulting in complex physical phenomena and emergent functionalities[2] These new functionalities are interesting due to their potential for a continuously evolving field of spintronics[3]. A possible way to circumvent this effect is to engineer a structure, where the spin–orbit field orientation is momentum-independent[11] This can be achieved, in particular, if the magnitudes of λR and λD are equal, i.e., λ=2 1⁄4 λD 1⁄4 ± λR, resulting in a unidirectional spin–orbit field, ΩPST 1⁄4 λðky; 0; 0Þ or ΩPST 1⁄4 λð[0]; kx; 0Þ, and a momentumindependent spin configuration, known as the persistent spin texture (PST) (Fig. 1c)[12]. The PSH has been experimentally demonstrated in the two-dimensional electron gas semiconductor quantum-well structures, such as GaAs/ AlGaAs15,16 and InGaAs/InAlAs17,18, where the required condition of equal Rashba (λR) and Dresselhaus (λD) parameters was realized through tuning the quantum-well width, doping level, and applied external electric field
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