Spin Accumulation and Dynamics in Inversion-Symmetric van der Waals Crystals

Inversion-symmetric materials are forbidden to show an overall spin texture in their band structure in the presence of time-reversal symmetry. However, in van der Waals materials which lack inversion symmetry within a single layer, it has been proposed that a layer-dependent spin texture can arise l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2018-06, Vol.120 (26), p.266801-266801, Article 266801
Main Authors: Guimarães, M H D, Koopmans, B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Interlayers
Orbital stability
Polarization (spin alignment)
Relaxation time
Spin dynamics
Spin-orbit interactions
Symmetry
Texture
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Summary:Inversion-symmetric materials are forbidden to show an overall spin texture in their band structure in the presence of time-reversal symmetry. However, in van der Waals materials which lack inversion symmetry within a single layer, it has been proposed that a layer-dependent spin texture can arise leading to a coupled spin-layer degree of freedom. Here we use time-resolved Kerr rotation in inversion-symmetric WSe_{2} and MoSe_{2} bulk crystals to study this spin-layer polarization and unveil its dynamics. Our measurements show that the spin-layer relaxation time in WSe_{2} is limited by phonon scattering at high temperatures and that the interlayer hopping can be tuned by a small in-plane magnetic field at low temperatures, enhancing the relaxation rates. We find a significantly lower lifetime for MoSe_{2} which agrees with theoretical expectations of a spin-layer polarization stabilized by the larger spin-orbit coupling in WSe_{2}.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.266801