Clear variation of spin splitting by changing electron distribution at non-magnetic metal/Bi₂O₃ interfaces

Large spin splitting at Rashba interface, giving rise to strong spin-momentum locking, is essential for efficient spin-to-charge conversion. Recently, a Cu/Bismuth oxide (Bi₂O₃) interface has been found to exhibit an efficient spin-to-charge conversion similar to a Ag/Bi interface with large Rashba spin splitting. However, the guiding principle of designing the metal/oxide interface for the efficient conversion has not been clarified yet. Here we report strong non-magnetic (NM) material dependence of spin splitting at NM/Bi₂O₃ interfaces. We employed spin pumping technique to inject spin current into the interface and evaluated the magnitude of interfacial spin-to-charge conversion. We observed large modulation and sign change in conversion coefficient which corresponds to the variation of spin splitting. Our experimental results together with first-principles calculations indicate that such large variation is caused by material dependent electron distribution near the interface. The results suggest that control of interfacial electron distribution by tuning the difference in work function across the interface may be an effective way to tune the magnitude and sign of spin-to-charge conversion and Rashba parameter at interface.