Abstract
The so-called spin–orbit proximity effect experimentally realized in graphene (G) on several different heavy metal surfaces opens a new perspective to engineer the spin–orbit coupling for new generation spintronics devices. Here, via large-scale density functional theory calculations performed for two distinct graphene/metal models, G/Pt(111) and G/Au/Ni(111), we show that the spin–orbit splitting of the Dirac cones (DCs) in these structures might be enhanced by either adsorption of adatoms on top of graphene (decoration) or between the graphene and the metal (intercalation). While the decoration by inducing strong graphene-adatom interaction suppresses the linearity of the G’s π bands, the intercalated structures reveal a weaker adatom-mediated graphene/substrate hybridization which preserves well-defined although broadened DCs. Remarkably, the intercalated G/Pt(111) structure exhibits splittings considerably larger than the defect-free case.
Highlights
Tuning of spin–orbit coupling (SOC) in graphene [1] is one of the fundamental steps to engineer graphenebased spintronics devices
Of the Dirac cones (DCs) in these structures might be enhanced by either adsorption of adatoms on top of graphene or between the graphene and the metal
Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of graphene on Pt(111) and on Au/Ni(111) showed that the induced spin texture is a result of spindependent hybridization between the Dirac cones (DCs) and the surface d-bands of the metal
Summary
Tuning of spin–orbit coupling (SOC) in graphene [1] is one of the fundamental steps to engineer graphenebased spintronics devices. One promising route to achieve this goal is the so-called spin–orbit proximity effect, recently extensively studied from both theoretical and experimental side [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. This mechanism of inducing SOC extrinsically relies on the proximity between graphene (G) and a metal; the SOC of the heavy atoms might be transferred to the G when both materials are brought sufficiently close to each other. Hybridizations locally open mini-gaps around which the SOC-derived spin splitting may reach giant values above 100 meV, in the quasi-linear regions, where the G transport properties are most relevant, the splittings are typically of the order of just 10 meV [10, 11]
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