Atomic-scale imaging of emergent order at a magnetic field-induced Lifshitz transition.

Marques, Carolina A; Rhodes, Luke C; Benedičič, Izidor; Naritsuka, Masahiro; Naden, Aaron B; Li, Zhiwei; Komarek, Alexander C; Mackenzie, Andrew P et al. · Sci Adv · 2022

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The phenomenology and radical changes seen in material properties traversing a quantum phase transition have captivated condensed matter research over the past decades. Strong electronic correlations lead to exotic electronic ground states, including magnetic order, nematicity, and unconventional superconductivity. Providing a microscopic model for these requires detailed knowledge of the electronic structure in the vicinity of the Fermi energy, promising a complete understanding of the physics of the quantum critical point. Here, we demonstrate such a measurement at the surface of Sr<sub>3</sub>Ru<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub>. Our results show that, even in zero field, the electronic structure is strongly <i>C</i><sub>2</sub> symmetric and that a magnetic field drives a Lifshitz transition and induces a charge-stripe order. We track the changes of the electronic structure as a function of field via quasiparticle interference imaging at ultralow temperatures. Our results provide a complete microscopic picture of the field-induced changes of the electronic structure across the Lifshitz transition.