Large band splitting with tunable spin polarization in the two-dimensional ferroelectric Ga<i>XY</i> family (<i>X</i> = Se, Te; <i>Y</i> = Cl, Br, I)

It has been generally accepted that the spin-orbit coupling effect in noncentrosymmetric materials leads to the band splitting and nontrivial spin polarization in the momentum space. However, in some cases, zero net spin polarization in the split bands may occurs, dubbed as the band splitting with vanishing spin polarization (BSVSP) effect, protected by non-pseudo-polar point group symmetry of the wave vector in the first Brillouin zone [K. Liu et al., Nat. Commun. 10, 5144 (2019)]. In this paper, by using first-principles calculations, we show that the BSVSP effect emerges in two-dimensional (2D) nonsymmorphic GaXY (X= Se, Te; Y= Cl, Br, I) family, a new class of 2D materials having in-plane ferroelectricity. Taking the GaTeCl monolayer as a representative example, we observe the BSVSP effect in the split bands along the X-M line located in the proximity of the conduction band minimum. By using the (k)over-right-arrow . (p)over-right-arrow Hamiltonian derived based on the symmetry analysis, we clarify that such an effect originates from the cancellation of the local spin polarization, enforced by non-pseudo-polar C-2v point group symmetry of the wave vector along the X-M line. Importantly, we find that the spin polarization can be effectively induced by applying an external out-of-plane electric field, indicating that an electrically tunable spin polarization for spintronic applications is plausible.