Giant Rashba splitting in 2D organic-inorganic halide perovskites measured by transient spectroscopies

Two-dimensional (2D) layered hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskite semiconductors form natural "multiple quantum wells" that have strong spin-orbit coupling due to the heavy elements in their building blocks. This may lead to "Rashba splitting" close to the extrema in the electron bands. We have used a plethora of ultrafast transient, nonlinear optical spectroscopies and theoretical calculations to study the primary (excitons) and long-lived (free carriers) photoexcitations in thin films of 2D perovskite, namely, (C6H5C2H4NH3)(2)PbI4. The density functional theory calculation shows the occurrence of Rashba splitting in the plane perpendicular to the 2D barrier. From the electroabsorption spectrum and photoinduced absorption spectra from excitons and free carriers, we obtain a giant Rashba splitting in this compound, with energy splitting of (40 +/- 5) meV and Rashba parameter of (1.6 +/- 0.1) eV.angstrom, which are among the highest Rashba splitting size parameters reported so far. This finding shows that 2D hybrid perovskites have great promise for potential applications in spintronics.