Highly Efficient Electric-Field Control of Giant Rashba Spin–Orbit Coupling in Lattice-Matched InSb/CdTe Heterostructures

Abstract

Spin−orbit coupling (SOC), the relativistic effect describing the interaction between the orbital and spin degrees of freedom, provides an effective way to tailor the spin/magnetic orders using electrical means. Here, we report the manipulation of the spin−orbit interaction in the latticematched InSb/CdTe heterostructures. Owing to the energy band bending at the heterointerface, the strong Rashba effect is introduced to drive the spin precession where pronounced weak antilocalization cusps are observed up to 100 K. With effective quantum confinement and suppressed bulk conduction, the SOC strength is found to be enhanced by 75% in the ultrathin InSb/CdTe film. Most importantly, we realize the electric-field control of the interfacial Rashba effect using a field-effect transistor structure and demonstrate the gate-tuning capability which is 1−2 orders of magnitude higher than other materials. The adoption of the InSb/CdTe integration strategy may set up a general framework for the design of strongly spin−orbit coupled systems that are essential for CMOS-compatible low-power spintronics.

Electronic Structure and Epitaxy of CdTe Shells on InSb Nanowires

“…Therefore, combining InSb with CdTe is compelling for several device applications such as, quantum‐well lasers, high electron mobility transistors, and infrared detectors. [ 14,15 ] However, in spite of the nearly perfect lattice‐match, growth of CdTe‐InSb heterostructures remains complicated, due to preferential interface reactions which lead predominantly to the formation of an indium–tellurium rich interface region. [ 16 ] The formation of such layer is undesirable, since different compositions of this indium telluride compound have different lattice constants and bandgaps.…”

Driving ultrafast spin and energy modulation in quantum well states via photo-induced electric fields

“…In our experiment we observe a 15% reduction on an ~1 eV Å Rashba effect with fields near 10 mV nm −1 only. There is a large body of evidence demonstrating small changes to surface or interface fields generate large changes to the Rashba parameter 51,61,62 . A reasonable explanation that has been presented is that the applied field plays an indirect role on the Rashba effect by shifting electrons to and from the nuclear cores at the surface plane 53,61,[63][64][65] .…”

Two-Dimensional Janus Antimony Selenium Telluride with Large Rashba Spin Splitting and High Electron Mobility

“…Various Janus 2D materials have been proposed such as Janus transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) , and Janus group III monochalcogenides M 2 XY (M = Ga or In; X/Y = S, Se, or Te), , displaying versatile properties including magnetism, piezoelectricity, ferroelasticity, valley polarization, , and Rashba-type spin splitting. − The Rashba effect describes the momentum-dependent splitting of spin bands that results from the spin–orbital coupling (SOC) in structural inversion asymmetric systems. The Rashba effect offers unique gate tunability over spin precession, which has been experimentally demonstrated in BiTeBr, InSb/CdTe heterostructures, SrTiO 3 , and LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 interfaces, showing promising applications in novel spintronic devices like spin injectors and spin field-effect transistors. , The intrinsic inversion asymmetry in Janus 2D materials offers an ideal platform to explore the Rashba SOC down to the 2D regime. ,− However, the low carrier mobility can limit the practical applications of Janus 2D materials. For example, the electron mobility of Janus TMDs only ranges from ∼70 to ∼245 cm 2 V –1 s –1 , considerably smaller than black phosphorus with a high electron mobility over 2200 cm 2 V –1 s –1 , which hinders their applications in high-speed and fast-response electronic/spintronic devices.…”

“…19−22 The Rashba effect describes the momentumdependent splitting of spin bands that results from the spin− orbital coupling (SOC) in structural inversion asymmetric systems. The Rashba effect offers unique gate tunability over spin precession, which has been experimentally demonstrated in BiTeBr, 23 InSb/CdTe heterostructures, 24 SrTiO 3 , 25 and LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 interfaces, 26 showing promising applications in novel spintronic devices like spin injectors and spin fieldeffect transistors. 27,28 The intrinsic inversion asymmetry in Janus 2D materials offers an ideal platform to explore the Rashba SOC down to the 2D regime.…”