Effective Landé factors for an electrostatically defined quantum point contact in silicene

Abstract

Abstract The transconductance and effective Landé $$g^*$$ g ∗ factors for a quantum point contact defined in silicene by the electric field of a split gate is investigated. The strong spin–orbit coupling in buckled silicene reduces the $$g^*$$ g ∗ factor for in-plane magnetic field from the nominal value 2 to around 1.2 for the first- to 0.45 for the third conduction subband. However, for perpendicular magnetic field we observe an enhancement of $$g^*$$ g ∗ factors for the first subband to 5.8 in nanoribbon with zigzag and to 2.5 with armchair edge. The main contribution to the Zeeman splitting comes from the intrinsic spin–orbit coupling defined by the Kane–Mele form of interaction.