Spin-orbit splitting in graphene on Ni, Au, or Ag (111) substrates was examined on the basis of density-functional theory. Graphene grown on the three metals was found to have Rashba splitting of a few or several tens of meV. The strong splitting obtained on Au or Ag substrates was mainly ascribed to effective hybridization of graphene pz state with Au or Ag dz2 states, rather than charge transfer as previously proposed. Our work provides theoretical understandings of the metal-induced Rashba effect in graphene.
@article{arxiv.1008.0696,
title = {Density-functional studies of spin-orbit splitting in graphene on metals},
author = {Z. Y. Li and S. Qiao and Z. Q. Yang and R. Q. Wu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1008.0696},
year = {2010}
}