Artificial electrostatic crystals: a new platform for creating correlated quantum states

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Wang, Daisy Q., Krix, Zeb, Tkachenko, Olga A., Tkachenko, Vitaly A., Chen, Chong, Farrer, Ian, Ritchie, David A., Sushkov, Oleg P., Hamilton, Alexander R., Klochan, Oleh
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Wang, Daisy Q.
Krix, Zeb
Tkachenko, Olga A.
Tkachenko, Vitaly A.
Chen, Chong
Farrer, Ian
Ritchie, David A.
Sushkov, Oleg P.
Hamilton, Alexander R.
Klochan, Oleh
author_facet Wang, Daisy Q.
Krix, Zeb
Tkachenko, Olga A.
Tkachenko, Vitaly A.
Chen, Chong
Farrer, Ian
Ritchie, David A.
Sushkov, Oleg P.
Hamilton, Alexander R.
Klochan, Oleh
contents The electronic properties of solids are determined by the crystal structure and interactions between electrons, giving rise to a variety of collective phenomena including superconductivity, strange metals and correlated insulators. The mechanisms underpinning many of these collective phenomena remain unknown, driving interest in creating artificial crystals which replicate the system of interest while allowing precise control of key parameters. Here we demonstrate the formation of highly tunable artificial crystals by superimposing a periodic electrostatic potential on the 2D electron gas in an ultra-shallow (25 nm deep) GaAs quantum well. The 100 nm period artificial crystal is identified by the formation of a new bandstructure, different from the original cubic crystal and specific to the artificial triangular lattice: transport measurements show the Hall coefficient changing sign as the chemical potential sweeps through the artificial bands. Uniquely, the artificial bandstructure can be continuously tuned to form linear graphene-like and flat kagome-like bands in a single device. A strong insulating state is observed at half filling of the kagome flat band, which is not expected in the absence of strong interactions. This state, unique to the kagome lattice, is consistent with a loop-current Wigner insulator, which arises from long-range Coulomb interaction and delocalised electrons between neighbouring empty sites. The ability to continuously tune the bandstructure and access flat bands through electrical gating within a single device opens a new route to studying collective quantum states.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_12769
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Artificial electrostatic crystals: a new platform for creating correlated quantum states
Wang, Daisy Q.
Krix, Zeb
Tkachenko, Olga A.
Tkachenko, Vitaly A.
Chen, Chong
Farrer, Ian
Ritchie, David A.
Sushkov, Oleg P.
Hamilton, Alexander R.
Klochan, Oleh
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
The electronic properties of solids are determined by the crystal structure and interactions between electrons, giving rise to a variety of collective phenomena including superconductivity, strange metals and correlated insulators. The mechanisms underpinning many of these collective phenomena remain unknown, driving interest in creating artificial crystals which replicate the system of interest while allowing precise control of key parameters. Here we demonstrate the formation of highly tunable artificial crystals by superimposing a periodic electrostatic potential on the 2D electron gas in an ultra-shallow (25 nm deep) GaAs quantum well. The 100 nm period artificial crystal is identified by the formation of a new bandstructure, different from the original cubic crystal and specific to the artificial triangular lattice: transport measurements show the Hall coefficient changing sign as the chemical potential sweeps through the artificial bands. Uniquely, the artificial bandstructure can be continuously tuned to form linear graphene-like and flat kagome-like bands in a single device. A strong insulating state is observed at half filling of the kagome flat band, which is not expected in the absence of strong interactions. This state, unique to the kagome lattice, is consistent with a loop-current Wigner insulator, which arises from long-range Coulomb interaction and delocalised electrons between neighbouring empty sites. The ability to continuously tune the bandstructure and access flat bands through electrical gating within a single device opens a new route to studying collective quantum states.
title Artificial electrostatic crystals: a new platform for creating correlated quantum states
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.12769