Giant Rashba splitting in PtTe/PtTe<sub>2</sub> heterostructure.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40102421.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-57835-1 and PMC identifier 11920107.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Achieving a large spin splitting is highly desirable for spintronic devices, which often requires breaking of the inversion symmetry. However, many atomically thin films are centrosymmetric, making them unsuitable for spintronic applications. Here, we report a strategy to achieve inversion symmetry breaking from a centrosymmetric transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) bilayer PtTe<sub>2</sub>, leading to a giant Rashba spin splitting. Specifically, the thermal annealing turns one layer of PtTe<sub>2</sub> sample into a transition metal monochalcogenide (TMMC) PtTe through Te extraction, thus forming PtTe/PtTe<sub>2</sub> heterostructure with inversion symmetry breaking. In this naturally-formed PtTe/PtTe<sub>2</sub> heterostructure, we observe a giant Rashba spin splitting with Rashba coefficient of α<sub>R</sub> = 1.8 eV ⋅ Å, as revealed by spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements. Our work demonstrates a convenient and effective pathway for achieving pronounced Rashba splitting in centrosymmetric TMDC thin films by creating TMMC/TMDC heterostructure, thereby extending their potential applications to spintronics.