Giant Spin-Orbit Interaction Due to Rotating Magnetic Fields in Graphene Nanoribbons

We study graphene nanoribbons theoretically in the presence of spatially varying magnetic fields produced, e.g., by nanomagnets. We show, both analytically and numerically, that an exceptionally large Rashba spin-orbit interaction of the order of 10 meV can be produced by a nonuniform magnetic field. As a consequence, helical modes exist in armchair nanoribbons that exhibit nearly perfect spin polarization and are robust against boundary defects. This result paves the way for realizing spin-filter devices in graphene nanoribbons in the temperature regime of a few kelvins. If a nanoribbons in the helical regime is in proximity contact to an s-wave superconductor, the nanoribbon can be tuned into a topological phase that sustains Majorana fermions. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.3.011008