Spin texture of the surface state of three-dimensional Dirac material Ca₃PbO

The bulk and surface electronic structures of a candidate three-dimensional Dirac material Ca₃PbO and its family are discussed especially focusing on the spin texture on the surface states. We first explain the basic features of the bulk band structure of Ca₃PbO, such as emergence of Dirac fermions near the Fermi energy, and compare it with the other known three-dimensional Dirac semimetals. Then, the surface bands and spin-texture on them are investigated in detail. It is shown that the surface bands exhibit strong momentum-spin locking, which may be useful in some application for spin manipulation, induced by a combination of the inversion symmetry breaking at the surface and the strong spin-orbit coupling of Pb atoms. The surface band structure and the spin-textures are sensitive to the surface types. (paper)