Absence of the Rashba Splitting of Au(111) Surface Bands

Abstract

The electronic structure of Au(111) films is studied by means of relativistic DFT calculations. It is found that the twinning of the surface bands, observed in photoemission experiment, does not necessarily correspond to the spin-splitting of the surface states caused by the break of the inversion symmetry at the surface. The twinning of the bands of clean Au(111) films can be obtained within nonrelativistic or scalar-relativistic approximation, so that it is not a result of spin-orbit coupling. However, the spin-orbit coupling does not lead to the spin-splitting of the surface bands. This result is explained by Kramers’ degeneracy, which means that the existence of a surface itself does not destroy the inversion symmetry of the system. The inversion symmetry of the Au(111) film can be broken, for example, by means of adsorption, and a hydrogen monolayer deposited on one face of the film indeed leads to the appearance of the spin-splitting of the bands.