Zhang Huimin, Oli Basu Dev, Zou Qiang, Guo Xu, Wang Zhengfei, Li Lian
Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA.
State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis, Optimization and CAE Software for Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China.
Nat Commun. 2023 Oct 4;14(1):6167. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41831-4.
Kagome lattice hosts a plethora of quantum states arising from the interplay of topology, spin-orbit coupling, and electron correlations. Here, we report symmetry-breaking electronic orders tunable by an applied magnetic field in a model Kagome magnet FeSn consisting of alternating stacks of two-dimensional FeSn Kagome and Sn honeycomb layers. On the FeSn layer terminated FeSn thin films epitaxially grown on SrTiO(111) substrates, we observe trimerization of the Kagome lattice using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, breaking its six-fold rotational symmetry while preserving the translational symmetry. Such a trimerized Kagome lattice shows an energy-dependent contrast reversal in dI/dV maps, which is significantly enhanced by bound states induced by Sn vacancy defects. This trimerized Kagome lattice also exhibits stripe modulations that are energy-dependent and tunable by an applied in-plane magnetic field, indicating symmetry-breaking nematicity from the entangled magnetic and charge degrees of freedom in antiferromagnet FeSn.
Kagome晶格中存在大量由拓扑、自旋轨道耦合和电子关联相互作用产生的量子态。在此,我们报道了在由二维FeSn Kagome和Sn蜂窝层交替堆叠组成的模型Kagome磁体FeSn中,可通过施加磁场调节的对称性破缺电子序。在生长于SrTiO(111)衬底上的FeSn层终止的FeSn薄膜上,我们利用扫描隧道显微镜/光谱观察到Kagome晶格的三聚化,其六重旋转对称性被打破,而平移对称性得以保留。这种三聚化的Kagome晶格在dI/dV图中显示出能量依赖的对比度反转,这被Sn空位缺陷诱导的束缚态显著增强。这种三聚化的Kagome晶格还表现出能量依赖且可通过施加面内磁场调节的条纹调制,表明反铁磁体FeSn中磁和电荷自由度的纠缠导致了对称性破缺的向列性。