No Arabic abstract
We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of monolayer VTe2 grown on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite by molecular-beam epitaxy. Using various in-situ microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, including scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, synchrotron X-ray and angle-resolved photoemission, and X-ray absorption, together with theoretical analysis by density functional theory calculations, we demonstrate direct evidence of the metallic 1T phase and 3d1 electronic configuration in monolayer VTe2 that also features a (4 x 4) charge density wave order at low temperatures. In contrast to previous theoretical predictions, our element-specific characterization by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism rules out a ferromagnetic order intrinsic to the monolayer. Our findings provide essential knowledge necessary for understanding this interesting yet less explored metallic monolayer in the emerging family of van der Waals magnets.
Atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenide films with distorted trigonal (1T$^prime$) phase have been predicted to be candidates for realizing quantum spin Hall effect. Growth of 1T$^prime$ film and experimental investigation of its electronic structure are critical. Here we report the electronic structure of 1T$^prime$-MoTe$_2$ films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Growth of the 1T$^prime$-MoTe$_2$ film depends critically on the substrate temperature, and successful growth of the film is indicated by streaky stripes in the reflection high energy electron diffraction and sharp diffraction spots in low energy electron diffraction. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements reveal a metallic behavior in the as-grown film with an overlap between the conduction and valence bands. First principles calculation suggests that a suitable tensile strain along the a-axis direction is needed to induce a gap to make it an insulator. Our work not only reports the electronic structure of MBE grown 1T$^prime$-MoTe$_2$ films, but also provides insights for strain engineering to make it possible for quantum spin Hall effect.
Charge density waves in transition metal dichalcogenides have been intensively studied for their close correlation with Mott insulator, charge-transfer insulator, and superconductor. VTe2 monolayer recently comes into sight because of its prominent electron correlations and the mysterious origin of CDW orders. As a metal of more than one type of charge density waves, it involves complicated electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions. Through a scanning tunneling microscopy study, we observed triple-Q 4-by-4 and single-Q 4-by-1 modulations with significant charge and orbital separation. The triple-Q 4-by-4 order arises strongly from the p-d hybridized states, resulting in a charge distribution in agreement with the V-atom clustering model. Associated with a lower Fermi level, the local single-Q 4-by-1 electronic pattern is generated with the p-d hybridized states remaining 4-by-4 ordered. In the spectroscopic study, orbital- and atomic- selective charge-density-wave gaps with the size up to ~400 meV were resolved on the atomic scale.
In this paper, the completed investigation of a possible superconducting phase in monolayer indium selenide is determined using first-principles calculations for both the hole and electron doping systems. The hole-doped dependence of the Fermi surface is exclusively fundamental for monolayer InSe. It leads to the extensive modification of the Fermi surface from six separated pockets to two pockets by increasing the hole densities. For low hole doping levels of the system, below the Lifshitz transition point, superconductive critical temperatures $T_c sim 55-75$ K are obtained within anisotropic Eliashberg theory depending on varying amounts of the Coulomb potential from 0.2 to 0.1. However, for some hole doping above the Lifshitz transition point, the combination of the temperature dependence of the bare susceptibility and the strong electron-phonon interaction gives rise to a charge density wave that emerged at a temperature far above the corresponding $T_c$. Having included non-adiabatic effects, we could carefully analyze conditions for which either a superconductive or charge density wave phase occurs in the system. In addition, monolayer InSe becomes dynamically stable by including non-adiabatic effects for different carrier concentrations at room temperature.
The accurate control of the crystal phase in III-V semiconductor nanowires (NWs) is an important milestone for device applications. In this work, we present a method to select and maintain the wurtzite (WZ) crystal phase in self-assisted NWs. By choosing a specific regime where the NW growth process is a self-regulated system, the main experimental parameter to select the zinc-blende (ZB) or WZ phase is the V/III flux ratio. The latter can be monitored by changing the As flux, and drives the system toward a stationary regime when the wetting angle of the Ga droplet falls in a target interval, typically in the 90{deg} - 125{deg} range for the WZ phase growth. The analysis of the in situ RHEED evolution, high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (HRSTEM), dark field transmission electron microscopy (DF-TEM), and photoluminescence (PL) data all confirm the control of an extended few micrometers long pure WZ segment obtained by MBE growth of self-assisted GaAs NWs with a V/III flux ratio of 4.0.
Recently the charge density wave (CDW) in vanadium dichalcogenides have attracted increasing research interests, but a real-space investigation on the symmetry breaking of the CDW state in VTe2 monolayer is still lacking. We have investigated the CDW of VTe2 monolayer by low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunneling microscope (STM). While the LEED experiments revealed a (4X4) CDW transition at 192+-2 K, our low-temperature STM experiments resolved the (4X4) lattice distortions and charge-density modulation in real space, and further unveiled a 1D modulation that breaks the three-fold rotational and mirror symmetries in the CDW state. In accordance with the CDW state at low temperature, a CDW gap of 12 meV was detected by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) at 4.9 K. Our work provides real-space evidence on the symmetry breaking of the (4X4) CDW state in VTe2 monolayer, and implies there is a certain mechanism, beyond the conventional Fermi surface nesting or the q-dependent electron-phonon coupling, is responsible for the formation of CDW state in VTe2 monolayer.