  When a single magnetic adatom is deposited on a surface of a metal, it
affects the charge and spin texture of the electron gas surrounding it. The
screening of the local moment by conduction electrons gives rise to the Kondo
effect. Here we investigate the effect of the Rashba spin orbit coupling on the
local magnetization density of states (LMDOS) around a Cobalt impurity on a
Au(111) surface in a magnetic field. We show that the in-plane component of the
LMDOS is exclusively associated with the Rashba spin orbit interaction. This
observation can be experimentally exploited to confirm the presence of the
Rashba effect on surfaces, such as Au(111), by performing spin-polarized STM
measurements around the Kondo impurity.

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics