Intertwined nontrivial band topology and giant Rashba spin splitting

Abstract

Composite quantum compounds (CQCs) have become an important avenue for the investigation of intercorrelation between two distinct phenomena in physics. Topological superconductors, axion insulators, etc., are a few such CQCs which have recently drawn tremendous attention in the community. Topological nontriviality and Rashba spin physics are two different quantum phenomena but can be intertwined within a CQC platform. In this paper, we present a general symmetry-based mechanism, supported by ab initio calculations, to achieve intertwined giant Rashba splitting and topological nontrivial states simultaneously in a single crystalline system. Such coexistent properties can further be tuned to achieve other rich phenomena. We have achieved Rashba splitting energy (ΔE) and Rashba coefficient (α) values as large as 161 meV and 4.87 eV Å, respectively, in conjunction with the Weyl semimetal phase in KSnSb0.625Bi0.375. Interestingly, these values are even larger than the values reported for the widely studied topologically trivial Rashba semiconductor BiTeI. The advantage of our present analysis is that one can achieve various topological phases without compromising the Rashba parameters, within this CQC platform. © 2021 American Physical Society.