Hui Zhang: Electronic excitations and charge inhomogeneity in indium atomic chains

Wednesday, May 29, 2013 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Hui Zhang, University of Science and Technology, China

Abstract

The physical properties of one-dimensional (1D) electronic systems are quite unique because of the enhanced coupling between various degrees of freedom including lattice, charge, and spin. Charge density wave (CDW) is one of exotic ground states of 1D electronic system. Besides the presence of exotic ground states, potentially even more intriguing are the elementary excitations of the 1D CDWs, such as solitons excitations. In our experiment, we determined the atomic structure, energetics, and dynamics of solitons by scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in one dimensional Indium chains on Si(111). Another important, electronic phase separation has been observed in correlated electronic materials. But electronic fabrication route has not been practically realized due to the structural and electronic complexity of such materials. Using Indium chains on Si(111) as a model example, we demonstrate that the charge inhomogeneity distribution can be tuned by the surface defect density, and the metal-insulator transition can be controlled by the strong local electric field applied by the STM tip.

Pizza will be provided before the talk at 11:45