Observation of a Mott insulating ground state for Sn/Ge(111) at low temperature

We report an investigation on the properties of 0.33 ML of Sn on Ge(111) at temperatures down to 5 K. Low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy show that the (3 x 3) phase formed at similar to 200 K, reverts to a new (root 3 x root 3)R30 degrees phase below 30 K. The vertical...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Cortes, R, Tejeda, A., Lobo, J., Didiot, C., Kierren, B., Malterre, D., Michel, E.G., Mascaraque Susunaga, Arantzazu
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2006
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/51309
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/51309
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:538.9
Dynamical fluctuations
Surface phase
Transition
Photoemission
Semiconductors
Diamond
Física de materiales
Descripción
Sumario:We report an investigation on the properties of 0.33 ML of Sn on Ge(111) at temperatures down to 5 K. Low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy show that the (3 x 3) phase formed at similar to 200 K, reverts to a new (root 3 x root 3)R30 degrees phase below 30 K. The vertical distortion characteristic of the (3 x 3) phase is lost across the phase transition, which is fully reversible. Angle-resolved photoemission experiments show that, concomitantly with the structural phase transition, a metal-insulator phase transition takes place. The (root 3 x root 3)R30 degrees ground state is interpreted as the formation of a Mott insulator for a narrow half-filled band in a two-dimensional triangular lattice.