Gespeichert in:
| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2026
|
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.12761 |
| Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
| _version_ | 1866913120062013440 |
|---|---|
| author | Xiang, Ziyu Xiao, Jianghan Li, Hongyuan Kim, Woochang Wang, Tianle Dong, Zhihuan Taniguchi, Takashi Watanabe, Kenji Zaletel, Michael P. Louie, Steven G. Crommie, Michael F. Wang, Feng |
| author_facet | Xiang, Ziyu Xiao, Jianghan Li, Hongyuan Kim, Woochang Wang, Tianle Dong, Zhihuan Taniguchi, Takashi Watanabe, Kenji Zaletel, Michael P. Louie, Steven G. Crommie, Michael F. Wang, Feng |
| contents | We directly visualize a two-dimensional anisotropic Wigner crystal and its quantum melting in monolayer 1T-ReSe2 using non-invasive scanning tunnelling microscopy. In crystals with anisotropic effective mass, an electron's quantum wavefunction becomes elongated along the light-mass direction to reduce kinetic energy. At low electron density, such anisotropic electrons are predicted to form an oblique Wigner crystal rather than the familiar triangular lattice of isotropic systems. Despite longstanding theoretical interest, this physics has been little explored experimentally. Here we first image the anisotropic shape of individual electrons in gated monolayer ReSe2, whose wavefunctions are strongly elongated along the light-mass direction. At low density, these electrons crystallize into an oblique Wigner lattice. As the density increases, quantum fluctuations grow more rapidly along the light-mass direction than along the heavy-mass direction, driving a one-dimensional melting of the crystal. The resulting state retains order along one direction but melts along the other, consistent with a smectic electron liquid crystal between the electron solid and Fermi liquid phases. Our work establishes monolayer ReSe2 as a platform for studying anisotropic correlated electrons, quantum melting, and coupled one-dimensional electron chains. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_12761 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Imaging Interacting Two-Dimensional Anisotropic Electrons Xiang, Ziyu Xiao, Jianghan Li, Hongyuan Kim, Woochang Wang, Tianle Dong, Zhihuan Taniguchi, Takashi Watanabe, Kenji Zaletel, Michael P. Louie, Steven G. Crommie, Michael F. Wang, Feng Strongly Correlated Electrons We directly visualize a two-dimensional anisotropic Wigner crystal and its quantum melting in monolayer 1T-ReSe2 using non-invasive scanning tunnelling microscopy. In crystals with anisotropic effective mass, an electron's quantum wavefunction becomes elongated along the light-mass direction to reduce kinetic energy. At low electron density, such anisotropic electrons are predicted to form an oblique Wigner crystal rather than the familiar triangular lattice of isotropic systems. Despite longstanding theoretical interest, this physics has been little explored experimentally. Here we first image the anisotropic shape of individual electrons in gated monolayer ReSe2, whose wavefunctions are strongly elongated along the light-mass direction. At low density, these electrons crystallize into an oblique Wigner lattice. As the density increases, quantum fluctuations grow more rapidly along the light-mass direction than along the heavy-mass direction, driving a one-dimensional melting of the crystal. The resulting state retains order along one direction but melts along the other, consistent with a smectic electron liquid crystal between the electron solid and Fermi liquid phases. Our work establishes monolayer ReSe2 as a platform for studying anisotropic correlated electrons, quantum melting, and coupled one-dimensional electron chains. |
| title | Imaging Interacting Two-Dimensional Anisotropic Electrons |
| topic | Strongly Correlated Electrons |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.12761 |