201 research outputs found
Controlling the effective mass of quantum well states in Pb/Si(111) by interface engineering
The in-plane effective mass of quantum well states in thin Pb films on a Bi
reconstructed Si(111) surface is studied by angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy. It is found that this effective mass is a factor of three lower
than the unusually high values reported for Pb films grown on a Pb
reconstructed Si(111) surface. Through a quantitative low-energy electron
diffraction analysis the change in effective mass as a function of coverage and
for the different interfaces is linked to a change of around 2% in the in-plane
lattice constant. To corroborate this correlation, density functional theory
calculations were performed on freestanding Pb slabs with different in-plane
lattice constants. These calculations show an anomalous dependence of the
effective mass on the lattice constant including a change of sign for values
close to the lattice constant of Si(111). This unexpected relation is due to a
combination of reduced orbital overlap of the 6p_z states and altered
hybridization between the 6p_z and 6p_xy derived quantum well states.
Furthermore it is shown by core level spectroscopy that the Pb films are
structurally and temporally stable at temperatures below 100 K.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Observation of correlated spin-orbit order in a strongly anisotropic quantum wire system
Quantum wires with spin-orbit coupling provide a unique opportunity to
simultaneously control the coupling strength and the screened Coulomb
interactions where new exotic phases of matter can be explored. Here we report
on the observation of an exotic spin-orbit density wave in Pb-atomic wires on
Si(557) surfaces by mapping out the evolution of the modulated spin-texture at
various conditions with spin- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy.
The results are independently quantified by surface transport measurements. The
spin polarization, coherence length, spin dephasing rate, and the associated
quasiparticle gap decrease simultaneously as the screened Coulomb interaction
decreases with increasing excess coverage, providing a new mechanism for
generating and manipulating a spin-orbit entanglement effect via electronic
interaction. Despite clear evidence of spontaneous spin-rotation symmetry
breaking and modulation of spin-momentum structure as a function of excess
coverage, the average spin-polarization over the Brillouin zone vanishes,
indicating that time-reversal symmetry is intact as theoretically predicted
Influence of the substrate lattice structure on the formation of Quantum Well States in thin In and Pb films on silicon
The substrate lattice structure may have a considerable influence on the
formation of quantum well states in a metal overlayer material. Here we study
three model systems using angle resolved photoemission and low energy electron
diffraction: indium films on Si(111) and indium and lead on Si(100). Data are
compared with theoretical predictions based on density functional theory. We
find that the interaction between the substrate and the overlayer strongly
influences the formation of quantum well states; indium layers only exhibit
well defined quantum well states when the layer relaxes from an initial
face-centered cubic to the bulk body-centered tetragonal lattice structure. For
Pb layers on Si(100) a change in growth orientation inhibits the formations of
quantum well states in films thicker than 2 ML.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Direct observation of the spin texture in strongly correlated SmB6 as evidence of the topological Kondo insulator
The concept of a topological Kondo insulator (TKI) has been brought forward
as a new class of topological insulators in which non-trivial surface states
reside in the bulk Kondo band gap at low temperature due to the strong
spin-orbit coupling [1-3]. In contrast to other three-dimensional (3D)
topological insulators (e.g. Bi2Se3), a TKI is truly insulating in the bulk
[4]. Furthermore, strong electron correlations are present in the system, which
may interact with the novel topological phase. Applying spin- and
angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SARPES) to the Kondo insulator SmB6,
a promising TKI candidate, we reveal that the surface states of SmB6 are spin
polarized, and the spin is locked to the crystal momentum. Counter-propagating
states (i.e. at k and -k) have opposite spin polarizations protected by
time-reversal symmetry. Together with the odd number of Fermi surfaces of
surface states between the 4 time-reversal invariant momenta in the surface
Brillouin zone [5], these findings prove, for the first time, that SmB6 can
host non-trivial topological surface states in a full insulating gap in the
bulk stemming from the Kondo effect. Hence our experimental results establish
that SmB6 is the first realization of a 3D TKI. It can also serve as an ideal
platform for the systematic study of the interplay between novel topological
quantum states with emergent effects and competing order induced by strongly
correlated electrons.Comment: 4 figure
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