Role of spin-orbit coupling and hybridization effects in the electronic structure of ultrathin Bi films

The electronic structure of Bi(001) ultrathin films (thickness > or =7 bilayers) on Si(111)-7x7 was studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. In contrast with the semimetallic nature of bulk Bi, both the experiment and theory demonstrate the metallic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2006-10, Vol.97 (14), p.146803-146803, Article 146803
Main Authors: Hirahara, T, Nagao, T, Matsuda, I, Bihlmayer, G, Chulkov, E V, Koroteev, Yu M, Echenique, P M, Saito, M, Hasegawa, S
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The electronic structure of Bi(001) ultrathin films (thickness > or =7 bilayers) on Si(111)-7x7 was studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. In contrast with the semimetallic nature of bulk Bi, both the experiment and theory demonstrate the metallic character of the films with the Fermi surface formed by spin-orbit-split surface states (SSs) showing little thickness dependence. Below the Fermi level, we clearly detected quantum well states (QWSs) at the M point, which were surprisingly found to be non-spin-orbit split; the films are "electronically symmetric" despite the obvious structural nonequivalence of the top and bottom interfaces. We found that the SSs hybridize with the QWSs near M and lose their spin-orbit-split character.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.97.146803