Visualizing the Localized Electrons of a Kagome Flat Band

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Chen, Caiyun, Zheng, Jiangchang, Yu, Ruopeng, Sankar, Soumya, Po, Hoi Chun, Law, Kam Tuen, Jäck, Berthold
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2023
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author Chen, Caiyun
Zheng, Jiangchang
Yu, Ruopeng
Sankar, Soumya
Po, Hoi Chun
Law, Kam Tuen
Jäck, Berthold
author_facet Chen, Caiyun
Zheng, Jiangchang
Yu, Ruopeng
Sankar, Soumya
Po, Hoi Chun
Law, Kam Tuen
Jäck, Berthold
contents Destructive interference between electron wavefunctions on the two-dimensional (2D) kagome lattice induces an electronic flat band, which could host a variety of interesting many-body quantum states. Key to realize these proposals is to demonstrate the real space localization of kagome flat band electrons. In particular, the extent to which the often more complex lattice structure and orbital composition of realistic materials counteract the localizing effect of destructive interference, described by the 2D kagome lattice model, is hitherto unknown. We used scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to visualize the non-trivial Wannier states of a kagome flat band at the surface of CoSn, a kagome metal. We find that the local density of states associated with the flat bands of CoSn is localized at the center of the kagome lattice, consistent with theoretical expectations for their corresponding Wannier states. Our results show that these states exhibit an extremely small localization length of two to three angstroms concomitant with a strongly renormalized quasiparticle velocity, which is comparable to that of moiré superlattices. Hence, interaction effects in the flat bands of CoSn could be much more significant than previously thought. Our findings provide fundamental insight into the electronic properties of kagome metals and are a key step for future research on emergent many-body states in transition metal based kagome materials.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2308_08976
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Visualizing the Localized Electrons of a Kagome Flat Band
Chen, Caiyun
Zheng, Jiangchang
Yu, Ruopeng
Sankar, Soumya
Po, Hoi Chun
Law, Kam Tuen
Jäck, Berthold
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Destructive interference between electron wavefunctions on the two-dimensional (2D) kagome lattice induces an electronic flat band, which could host a variety of interesting many-body quantum states. Key to realize these proposals is to demonstrate the real space localization of kagome flat band electrons. In particular, the extent to which the often more complex lattice structure and orbital composition of realistic materials counteract the localizing effect of destructive interference, described by the 2D kagome lattice model, is hitherto unknown. We used scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to visualize the non-trivial Wannier states of a kagome flat band at the surface of CoSn, a kagome metal. We find that the local density of states associated with the flat bands of CoSn is localized at the center of the kagome lattice, consistent with theoretical expectations for their corresponding Wannier states. Our results show that these states exhibit an extremely small localization length of two to three angstroms concomitant with a strongly renormalized quasiparticle velocity, which is comparable to that of moiré superlattices. Hence, interaction effects in the flat bands of CoSn could be much more significant than previously thought. Our findings provide fundamental insight into the electronic properties of kagome metals and are a key step for future research on emergent many-body states in transition metal based kagome materials.
title Visualizing the Localized Electrons of a Kagome Flat Band
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.08976