Correlated electronic states at domain walls of a Mott-charge-density-wave insulator 1T-TaS2

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 1 - 6
• Main Authors: Cho, Doohee, Gye, Gyeongcheol, Lee, Jinwon, Lee, Sung-Hoon, Wang, Lihai, Cheong, Sang-Wook, Yeom, Han Woong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 30.08.2017; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/301/119/544; 639/766/119/995; Charge density; Charge density waves; Controllability; Correlation; Decomposition; Density; Domain walls; Electron states; Electronic devices; Electronic systems; Humanities and Social Sciences; Magnetic fields; Magnetism; multidisciplinary; Physical properties; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Spectroscopy
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00438-2

Domain walls in interacting electronic systems can have distinct localized states, which often govern physical properties and may lead to unprecedented functionalities and novel devices. However, electronic states within domain walls themselves have not been clearly identified and understood for strongly correlated electron systems. Here, we resolve the electronic states localized on domain walls in a Mott-charge-density-wave insulator 1 T -TaS 2 using scanning tunneling spectroscopy. We establish that the domain wall state decomposes into two nonconducting states located at the center of domain walls and edges of domains. Theoretical calculations reveal their atomistic origin as the local reconstruction of domain walls under the strong influence of electron correlation. Our results introduce a concept for the domain wall electronic property, the walls own internal degrees of freedom, which is potentially related to the controllability of domain wall electronic properties. The electronic states within domain walls in an interacting electronic system remain elusive. Here, Cho et al. report that the domain wall state in a charge-density-wave insulator 1 T -TaS 2 decomposes into two localized but nonconducting states at the center or edges of domain walls.