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Professor T.Takahashi -- Discovery of giant Rashba effect at the semiconductor-metal interface -A significant progress for next-generation energy-saving devices --

The research group, consisting of Akari Takayama (doctoral student) at Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Professor Takashi Takahashi at WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University and Professor Tamio Oguchi at the Institute of Scientific and Industrial research, Osaka University, has discovered a giant Rashba effect, at the interface between a semiconductor (silicon) and a metal (bismuth). The Rashba effect is regarded as a central mechanism to creat and controll the spin-flow in advanced spintronic devices. The discovery was achieved with a high-resolution spin-resolved photoemission spectrometer constructed by the research team at Tohoku University. The present discovery would open a way to the development of next-generation spintronic devices which effectively utilize the novel function of interface as in electronic devices.

The paper is published in Nano Letters on April 11, 2012. The title of paper is "Tunable Spin Polarization in Bismuth Ultrathin Film on Si(111)".

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