Coupled spin and electron-phonon dynamics at the relativistic Tl/Si(111) surface
Abstract
We investigate the role played by the electron spin and the spin-orbit interaction on the exceptional electronphonon coupling at the Tl/Si(111) surface. Our first-principles calculations demonstrate that the particular spin pattern of this system dominates the whole low-energy electron-phonon physics, which is remarkably explained by forbidden spin-spin scattering channels. In particular, we show that the strength of the electron-phonon coupling appears drastically weakened for surface states close to the K and K' valleys, which is unambiguously attributed to the spin polarization through the associated modulation due to the spinor overlaps. However, close to the {\Gamma} point, the particular spin pattern in this area is less effective in damping the electron-phonon matrix elements, and the result is an exceptional strength of electron-phonon coupling parameter {\lambda} ~ 1.4. These results are rationalized by a simple model for the electron-phonon matrix elements including the spinor terms.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1712.04868,
title = {Coupled spin and electron-phonon dynamics at the relativistic Tl/Si(111) surface},
author = {Peio Garcia-Goiricelaya and Idoia G. Gurtubay and Asier Eiguren},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1712.04868},
year = {2018}
}