Enhancing Rashba Spin-Splitting Strength by Orbital Hybridization

A Rashba spin-splitting state with spin-momentum locking enables the charge-spin interconversion known as the Rashba effect, induced by the interplay of inversion symmetry breaking (ISB) and spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Enhancing spin-splitting strength is promising to achieve high spin-orbit torque (SOT) efficiency for low-power-consumption spintronic devices. However, the energy scale of natural ISB at the interface is relatively small, leading to the weak Rashba effect. In this work, we report that orbital hybridization inducing additional asymmetry potential at the interface observably enhances spin-splitting strength, verified in the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN)/Co