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Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 146803 (2004) [4 pages]

Role of Spin-Orbit Splitting and Dynamical Fluctuations in the Si(557)-Au Surface

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Daniel Sánchez-Portal1 *, Sampsa Riikonen1, and Richard M. Martin2
1Unidad de Física de Materiales CSIC-UPV/EHU, Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), and Departamento de Física de Materiales, Universidad del País Vasco, Apdo. 1072, 20080 Donostia, Spain
2Deparment of Physics and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA

Received 16 April 2004; published 29 September 2004

Our ab initio calculations show that spin-orbit coupling is crucial to understand the electronic structure of the Si(557)-Au surface. The spin-orbit splitting produces the two one-dimensional bands observed in photoemission, which were previously attributed to spin-charge separation in a Luttinger liquid. This spin splitting might have relevance for future device applications. We also show that the apparent Peierls-like transition observed in this surface by scanning tunneling microscopy is a result of the dynamical fluctuations of the step-edge structure which are quenched as the temperature is decreased.


©2004 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.146803
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.146803
PACS: 73.20.At, 71.15.Mb, 79.60.Jv, 81.07.Vb

* Electronic address: sqbsapod@sc.ehu.es

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