Rashba splitting and dichroism of surface states in Bi/Ag surface alloy

The Rashba effect plays an important role in various spin-related phenomena in two-dimensional electronic systems. In this work we present a theoretical analysis of the Rashba effect both analytically and numerically for the prototypical Rashba system Bi/Ag surface alloy, which shows a giant Rashba spin splitting. The results reveal the critical influence of atomic spin-orbit coupling and structural inversion asymmetry. In addition, we demonstrate a theoretical route to interpret the prominent circular dichroic patterns observed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in this system. The results reveal a close connection between the experimentally observed dichroic patterns and the Rashba spin texture.