When graphene is placed on a substrate of heavy metal, the Rashba spin-orbit interaction of substantial strength can occur. In an open system such as a quantum dot, the interaction can induce spin polarization. Would classical dynamics have any effect on the spin polarization? Here we consider the quantum-dot setting, where the Rashba interaction is confined within the central scattering region...

Spin-orbit interaction entangles the orbitals with the different spins. The spin-orbital-entangled states were discovered in surface states of topological insulators. However, the spin-orbital-entanglement is not specialized in the topological surface states. Here, we show the spin-orbital texture in a surface state of Bi(111) by laser-based spin- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (...