Spin texture of 𝛼−GeTe in the ultrathin regime

This scientific article is published as an Editors’ Suggestion in the journal Physical Review B (american physical society, APS).

Rashba-type ferroelectric semiconductors such as 𝛼-GeTe have recently been proposed as promising candidates for fully electrically-controlled spin-orbitronics. The persistence of electronic states exhibiting spin-degeneracy lifting in ultrathin films is of particular importance in the context of device miniaturization.
Using angle- and spin-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SR-ARPES) supported by ab initio calculations, research teams from CINaM (AMU/CNRS), the Institut Jean Lamour (Univ. Lorraine/CNRS), and the SOLEIL synchrotron have demonstrated that 𝛼-GeTe films as thin as 5 nm still exhibit a spin texture at the Fermi surface. This study thrives the question of the thickness limit in the field of spintronics.