Unconventional spin texture driven by higher-order spin-orbit interactions
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866918107693449216 |
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| author | Wu, Jiaxuan Zeng, Boyun Chen, Hanghui |
| author_facet | Wu, Jiaxuan Zeng, Boyun Chen, Hanghui |
| contents | Spin splitting and the resulting spin texture are central to emerging spintronic applications. In non-centrosymmetric non-magnetic materials containing heavy elements, spin textures are typically governed by low-order, momentum-dependent spin-orbit interactions, such as Rashba spin-orbit interaction with linear or cubic order in crystal momentum. In this work, we use \textit{ab initio} calculations to reveal a previously unidentified spin texture in the conduction bands of a prototypical ferroelectric nitride LaWN$_3$. In addition to the usual $Γ$-centered vortex, we find six new vortices and anti-vortices located at non-high-symmetry points near the Brillouin zone center. Furthermore, by combining group-theoretical analysis and $\textbf{k}\cdot\textbf{p}$ perturbation modeling, we show that, constrained by the $C_{3v}$ point group to which ferroelectric LaWN$_3$ belongs, a 7th-order Weyl spin-orbit interaction is essential to reproduce the unconventional spin structure observed in first-principles calculations. We also find that weak electron doping of LaWN$_3$ leads to a Fermi surface whose spin-arrow contour exhibits an unusual epicycloid pattern--a distinctive signature that is experimentally accessible. Our work demonstrates that higher-order spin-orbit interactions are more than perturbative corrections. They can play a dominant role in shaping the spin texture of non-centrosymmetric materials. Our results open up new avenues for designing spintronic devices that exploit multi-chiral spin textures beyond the conventional spin-orbit paradigm. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_22475 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Unconventional spin texture driven by higher-order spin-orbit interactions Wu, Jiaxuan Zeng, Boyun Chen, Hanghui Materials Science Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Spin splitting and the resulting spin texture are central to emerging spintronic applications. In non-centrosymmetric non-magnetic materials containing heavy elements, spin textures are typically governed by low-order, momentum-dependent spin-orbit interactions, such as Rashba spin-orbit interaction with linear or cubic order in crystal momentum. In this work, we use \textit{ab initio} calculations to reveal a previously unidentified spin texture in the conduction bands of a prototypical ferroelectric nitride LaWN$_3$. In addition to the usual $Γ$-centered vortex, we find six new vortices and anti-vortices located at non-high-symmetry points near the Brillouin zone center. Furthermore, by combining group-theoretical analysis and $\textbf{k}\cdot\textbf{p}$ perturbation modeling, we show that, constrained by the $C_{3v}$ point group to which ferroelectric LaWN$_3$ belongs, a 7th-order Weyl spin-orbit interaction is essential to reproduce the unconventional spin structure observed in first-principles calculations. We also find that weak electron doping of LaWN$_3$ leads to a Fermi surface whose spin-arrow contour exhibits an unusual epicycloid pattern--a distinctive signature that is experimentally accessible. Our work demonstrates that higher-order spin-orbit interactions are more than perturbative corrections. They can play a dominant role in shaping the spin texture of non-centrosymmetric materials. Our results open up new avenues for designing spintronic devices that exploit multi-chiral spin textures beyond the conventional spin-orbit paradigm. |
| title | Unconventional spin texture driven by higher-order spin-orbit interactions |
| topic | Materials Science Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.22475 |