Eur. Phys. J. B (2021) 94: 69
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/s10051-021-00080-4

Regular Article - Solid State and Materials

Momentum space imaging of nonsymmorphic superconductors with locally broken inversion symmetry

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Winnipeg, Canada
² Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, 790-784, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, Korea
³ Manitoba Quantum Institute, University of Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Winnipeg, Canada
⁴ Department of Physics, Qom University of Technology, 37181-46645, Qom, Iran
⁵ Max Planck Institute for the Chemical Physics of Solids, 01187, Dresden, Germany
⁶ Max Planck POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials, POSTECH, 790-784, Pohang, Republic of Korea
⁷ Department of Physics, POSTECH, 790-784, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea

^a mehdi.biderang@umanitoba.ca
^c akbari@postech.ac.kr

Received: 30 June 2020
Accepted: 8 March 2021
Published online: 24 March 2021

Abstract

The failure of spatial inversion symmetry in noncentrosymmetric materials introduces two different types of spin-independent and spin-dependent electron hopping. The spin-dependent term can be translated into a quasi-spin–orbit coupling and may affect the electronic structure. In the locally noncentrosymmetric crystals, the presence of a sublattice degree of freedom generates a distinction between the inter- and intra-sublattice hopping integrals. The spin-dependent part of the former (latter), which is even (odd) under parity, is called symmetric (antisymmetric) quasi-spin–orbit coupling. Here, we show the consequences of such quasi-spin–orbit couplings on the electronic band structure, and study their characteristic features via the quasiparticle interference method. We extend our discussions to a realistic class of materials, known as transition metal oxides.