Theory of t2g electron-gas Rashba interactions

Understand

The spin-degeneracy of Bloch bands in a crystal can be lifted when spin-orbit (SO) coupling is present and inversion symmetry is absent.

• In two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) spin-degeneracy is lifted by Rashba interaction terms - symmetry invariants that are scalar products of spin and orbital axial vectors.
• Rashba interactions are symmetry allowed whenever a 2DES is not invariant under reflections through the plane it occupies.
• In this paper, we use a tight-binding model informed by ab initio electronic structure calculations to develop a theory of Rashba splitting in the t2g bands of the two- dimensional electron systems formed at cubic perovskite crystal surfaces and interfaces.