Proximity coupling of bilayer graphene (BLG) to transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offers a promising route to engineer gate-tunable spin-orbit coupling (SOC) while preserving BLG's exceptional electronic properties. This tunability arises from the layer-asymmetric electronic structure of gapped BLG, where SOC acts predominantly on the layer in contact with the TMD. Here, we present high-quality BLG/WSe2 devices with a proximity-induced SOC gap and excellent electrostatic control. Operating in a quasi-ballistic regime, our double-gated heterostructures allow to form gate-defined p-n-p cavities and show clear weak anti-localization (WAL) features consistent with Rashba-type SOC. At lower hole densities, a transition to weak localization (WL) is observed, signaling transport through a single spin-split valence band. These findings - in agreement with calculations - provide direct spectroscopic evidence of proximity-induced spin-split band in BLG and underscore the potential of BLG/TMD heterostructures for spintronics and spin-based quantum technologies.
@article{arxiv.2505.24632,
title = {Weak localization as probe of spin-orbit-induced spin-split bands in bilayer graphene proximity coupled to WSe$_2$},
author = {E. Icking and F. Wörtche and A. W. Cummings and A. Wörtche and K. Watanabe and T. Taniguchi and C. Volk and B. Beschoten and C. Stampfer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.24632},
year = {2026}
}