Emergence of Rashba spin valley state in two-dimensional strained bismuth oxychalcogenides Bi2O2Se

The experimental evidence of the ultrahigh electron mobility and strong spin-orbit coupling in the two-dimensional (2D) layered bismuth-based oxyselenide, Bi2O2Se, makes it a potential material for spintronic devices. However, its spin-related properties have not been extensively studied due to the centrosymmetric nature of its crystal structure. By using first-principles density-functional theory calculation, this study reports the emergence of Rashba-spin-valley states in Bi2O2Se monolayer (ML). Breaking the crystal inversion symmetry of Bi2O2Se ML using an external electric field enables the Rashba-spin-valley formation, causing the appearance of the Rashba-type splitting around the Gamma valley and spin-valley coupling at the D valleys located near the middle of Gamma - M line. In addition to the typical Rashba-type spin textures around the Gamma valley, the study also observed in-plane unidirectional spin textures around the D valleys, which is a rare phenomenon in 2D materials. The observed Rashba-spin-valley states are driven by the lowering point group symmetry of the crystal from D-4h to C-4v enforced by the electric field, as clarified through (k) over right arrow center dot (p) over right arrow model derived from symmetry analysis. More importantly, tuning the Rashba and spin-valley states by using biaxial strain offers a promising route to regulate the spin textures and spin splitting preventing the electron from back-scattering in spin transport. Finally, we proposed a more realistic system, namely, Bi2O2SeML/SrTiO3 (001) heterointerface that supports the strong Rashba-spin-valley states and highlighting the potential of the Bi2O2Se ML for future spintronics and valleytronics-based devices.