DOI: 10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bwc6
title: Data from: Emergent Rashba spin-orbit coupling in bulk gold with buried network of nanoscale interfaces

description: The Rashba effect, which plays a crucial role in fundamental materials
 physics and potential spintronics applications, has been engineered in
 diverse systems, including semiconductor quantum wells, oxide
 heterostructures, metallic surfaces, topological insulators,
 ferroelectrics, etc. However, generating it in systems that preserve bulk
 inversion symmetry (BIS), for example, in bulk metals, has not been
 possible so far. We demonstrate a unique strategy to introduce and tune
 Rashba spin-orbit interaction (SOI) to unprecedented magnitudes in
 inversion-symmetric solids, by incorporating ultra-small silver
 nanoparticles in bulk gold. The near-identical lattice constants of Ag and
 Au allowed dense packing of the Ag/Au hetero-interfaces without
 compromising the global BIS. By varying the density of embedded
 nanoparticles, we generate Rashba SOI in a bulk metal with coupling
 strength ∼15 meV∙Å, higher than any known system preserving BIS globally
 and up to ∼20 times increase in the spin-orbit scattering rate. We argue
 that the combined effect of charge-transfer at the interfaces and
 polaronic localization enhances the SOI.
description: Files are stored in folders - each with a corresponding README.md. Fig1d:
 In the file of Fig.1d, we have filling fraction(F) on the X-axis and
 Y-axis shows residual resistivity, 𝜌0 (defined as the resistivity, 𝜌, at
 the base temperature 𝑇 ∼ 6 K). Fig1e: The files of Fig.1e show
 T-dependence of resistivity, 𝜌, for films with varying filling fraction,
 F. In the X-axis, we have temperatures(*T*), and the Y-axis shows
 resistivity, 𝜌. Fig2a: The files of Fig.2a show the Magnetoresistance
 (MR), represented by the relative change in resistivity ((𝜌(𝐵) − 𝜌(0))/𝜌 =
 Δ𝜌/𝜌) with magnetic field (𝐵), in a perpendicular magnetic field is
 measured for a film with Ag/Au interface density, 𝐹 = 0.09, at the various
 temperatures indicated. In the X-axis, we have magnetic field(B) and
 Y-axis shows magnetoresistance,((𝜌(𝐵) − 𝜌(0))/𝜌 = Δ𝜌/𝜌). Fig. 2 b: The
 files of folder Fig.2b show the Magnetoresistance(MR) at 𝑇 ∼ 1 K for
 different films with values of 𝐹 varying from 0 to 0.5. In the X-axis, we
 have the magnetic field(*B*), and the Y-axis shows magnetoresistance,
 represented by the relative change in resistivity ((𝜌(𝐵) − 𝜌(0))/𝜌 =
 Δ𝜌/𝜌). Fig2c: The files of Fig.2c have the low-𝑇 transport for different
 values of 𝐹. In the X-axis, we have temperatures(T), and the Y-axis shows
 the correction to the conductivity(𝛿𝜎= 𝜎 − 𝜎0), where 𝜎0 is estimated by
 extrapolation of the data to 𝑇 = 0. Fig2d: MR, measured at 𝑇 = 0.3 K, is
 shown for a film with 𝐹 = 0.14 in magnetic fields applied parallel and
 perpendicular to the film. In the X-axis, we have the magnetic field(B)
 and the Y-axis shows magnetoresistance, represented by the relative change
 in resistivity ((𝜌(𝐵) − 𝜌(0))/𝜌 = Δ𝜌/𝜌) . Fig 5c: In the files of folder
 Fig5c, tunelling conductance, 𝐺𝑡 is shown for different films with varying
 𝐹, measured at 𝑇 ∼ 8 K. 𝐺𝑡 is normalized such that the minimum value at
 zero bias, 𝐺𝑡,0 is 0 and the value saturating at larger bias, 𝐺𝑡,N is 1.
 In X-axis we have Bias voltage(V) and Y-axis normalized
 conductance((Gt-Gt,0)/Gt,N).