Towards colloidal spintronics through Rashba spin-orbit interaction in lead sulphide nanosheets

Employing the spin degree of freedom of charge carriers offers the possibility to extend the functionality of conventional electronic devices, while colloidal chemistry can be used to synthesize inexpensive and tunable nanomaterials. Here, in order to benefit from both concepts, we investigate Rashba spin–orbit interaction in colloidal lead sulphide nanosheets by electrical measurements on the circular photo-galvanic effect. Lead sulphide nanosheets possess rock salt crystal structure, which is centrosymmetric. The symmetry can be broken by quantum confinement, asymmetric vertical interfaces and a gate electric field leading to Rashba-type band splitting in momentum space at the M points, which results in an unconventional selection mechanism for the excitation of the carriers. The effect, which is supported by simulations of the band structure using density functional theory, can be tuned by the gate electric field and by the thickness of the sheets. Spin-related electrical transport phenomena in colloidal materials open a promising pathway towards future inexpensive spintronic devices.