Spatially-resolved electronic structure of stripe domains in IrTe2 through electronic structure microscopy

• Published in: Communications physics Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 1 - 6
• Main Authors: Bao, Changhua, Zhang, Hongyun, Li, Qian, Zhou, Shaohua, Zhang, Haoxiong, Deng, Ke, Zhang, Kenan, Luo, Laipeng, Yao, Wei, Chen, Chaoyu, Avila, José, Asensio, Maria C., Wu, Yang, Zhou, Shuyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 19.10.2021; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Broken symmetry; Colossal magnetoresistance; Domains; Electronic structure; Electrons; High temperature superconductors; Inhomogeneity; Inhomogeneous systems; Insulators; Magnetoresistivity; Phase separation; Phase transitions; Photoelectric emission; Symmetry
• ISSN: 2399-3650; 2399-3650
• DOI: 10.1038/s42005-021-00733-x

Abstract Phase separation in the nanometer- to micrometer-scale is characteristic for correlated materials, for example, high temperature superconductors, colossal magnetoresistance manganites, Mott insulators, etc. Resolving the electronic structure with spatially-resolved information is critical for revealing the fundamental physics of such inhomogeneous systems yet this is challenging experimentally. Here by using nanometer- and micrometer-spot angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopies (NanoARPES and MicroARPES), we reveal the spatially-resolved electronic structure in the stripe phase of IrTe 2 . Each separated domain shows two-fold symmetric electronic structure with the mirror axis aligned along 3 equivalent directions, and 6 × 1 replicas are clearly identified. Moreover, such electronic structure inhomogeneity disappears across the stripe phase transition, suggesting that electronic phase with broken symmetry induced by the 6 × 1 modulation is directly related to the stripe phase transition of IrTe 2 . Our work demonstrates the capability of NanoARPES and MicroARPES in elucidating the fundamental physics of phase-separated materials.