Christian Ast, MPI-FKF Stuttgart
One of the goals in the emerging field of spintronics is to manipulate the electron spin without the use of magnetic fields. This can be achieved at surfaces and interfaces where the inversion symmetry is broken and a strong spin-orbit interaction can lift the spin-degeneracy. Such a spin-splitting can further be enhanced by additional contributions from an in-plane inversion asymmetry as has been found for the Bi/Ag(111) surface alloy. In my presentation I will discuss the mechanism of a giant spin-splitting, how the strength of the splitting can be tuned by mixing different elements in the surface alloy and how to transfer this concept onto a semiconducting substrate in order to make it more interesting for the broad field of spintronics.