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    Photoemission of Bi2Se3 with circularly polarized light: Probe of spin polarization or means for spin manipulation?
    (College Park : American Institute of Physics Inc., 2014) Sánchez-Barriga, J.; Varykhalov, A.; Braun, J.; Xu, S.-Y.; Alidoust, N.; Kornilov, O.; Minár, J.; Hummer, K.; Springholz, G.; Bauer, G.; Schumann, R.; Yashina, L.V.; Ebert, H.; Hasan, M.Z.; Rader, O.
    Topological insulators are characterized by Dirac-cone surface states with electron spins locked perpendicular to their linear momenta. Recent theoretical and experimental work implied that this specific spin texture should enable control of photoelectron spins by circularly polarized light. However, these reports questioned the so far accepted interpretation of spin-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy.We solve this puzzle and show that vacuum ultraviolet photons (50-70 eV) with linear or circular polarization indeed probe the initial-state spin texture of Bi2Se3 while circularly polarized 6-eV low-energy photons flip the electron spins out of plane and reverse their spin polarization, with its sign determined by the light helicity. Our photoemission calculations, taking into account the interplay between the varying probing depth, dipole-selection rules, and spin-dependent scattering effects involving initial and final states, explain these findings and reveal proper conditions for light-induced spin manipulation. Our results pave the way for future applications of topological insulators in optospintronic devices.
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    Mapping the band structure of GeSbTe phase change alloys around the Fermi level
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2018) Kellner, J.; Bihlmayer, G.; Liebmann, M.; Otto, S.; Pauly, C.; Boschker, J.E.; Bragaglia, V.; Cecchi, S.; Wang, R.N.; Deringer, V.L.; Küppers, P.; Bhaskar, P.; Golias, E.; Sánchez-Barriga, J.; Dronskowski, R.; Fauster, T.; Rader, O.; Calarco, R.; Morgenstern, M.
    Phase change alloys are used for non-volatile random-access memories exploiting the conductivity contrast between amorphous and metastable, crystalline phase. However, this contrast has never been directly related to the electronic band structure. Here we employ photoelectron spectroscopy to map the relevant bands for metastable, epitaxial GeSbTe films. The constant energy surfaces of the valence band close to the Fermi level are hexagonal tubes with little dispersion perpendicular to the (111) surface. The electron density responsible for transport belongs to the tails of this bulk valence band, which is broadened by disorder, i.e., the Fermi level is 100 meV above the valence band maximum. This result is consistent with transport data of such films in terms of charge carrier density and scattering time. In addition, we find a state in the bulk band gap with linear dispersion, which might be of topological origin.
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    Lifshitz transition in titanium carbide driven by a graphene overlayer
    (College Park, MD : APS, 2023) Krivenkov, M.; Marchenko, D.; Golias, E.; Sajedi, M.; Frolov, A.S.; Sánchez-Barriga, J.; Fedorov, A.; Yashina, L.V.; Rader, O.; Varykhalov, A.
    Two-dimensional (2D) Dirac materials are electronically and structurally very sensitive to proximity effects. We demonstrate, however, the opposite effect: that the deposition of a monolayer 2D material could exercise a substantial influence on the substrate electronic structure. Here we investigate TiC(111) and show that a graphene overlayer produces a proximity effect, changing the Fermi surface topology of the TiC from six electron pockets to one hole pocket on the depth of several atomic layers inside the substrate. In addition, the graphene electronic structure undergoes an extreme modification as well. While the Dirac cone remains gapless, it experiences an energy shift of 1.0 eV beyond what was recently achieved for the Lifshitz transition of overdoped graphene. Due to this shift, the antibonding π∗ band at the M¯ point becomes occupied and observable by photoemission.