We study Bi-adsorbed In atomic chains on Si(111) in order to design a one-dimensional (1D) Rashba system using first-principles calculations. From the band dispersions and spin textures, we find that this system shows 1D giant Rashba splittings. The Rashba parameters of several structures in this system are comparable with other Rashba systems. Depending on the adsorption structure, this system also shows remarkable features such as a large out-of-plane spin polarization, the reversal of spin polarization in the Rashba bands, and a metal-insulator transition. We propose a mechanism to generate a nondissipative spin current by the gap opening due to an avoided crossing of Rashba bands. This mechanism is suitable for spintronic applications without requiring an external magnetic field.

• Received 17 August 2018
• Revised 12 November 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.241409

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society