Charge-Density-Wave Control by Adatom Manipulation and Its Effect on Magnetic Nanostructures.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39701817.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04581 and PMC identifier 11719633.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Charge-density waves (CDWs) are correlated states of matter, in which the electronic density is modulated periodically due to electronic and phononic interactions. Often, CDW phases coexist with other correlated states, such as superconductivity, spin-density waves, or Mott insulators. Controlling CDW phases may, therefore, enable the manipulation of the energy landscape of these interacting states. The transition metal dichalcogenide 2<i>H</i>-NbSe<sub>2</sub> hosts both CDW order and superconductivity, with the incommensurate CDW phase resulting in different CDW-to-lattice alignments at the atomic scale. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we position adatoms on the surface to induce reversible CDW domain switching. We show that the domain structure critically affects other local interactions, particularly the hybridization of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states, which emerge from exchange interactions of magnetic Fe atoms with the superconductor. Our results suggest that CDW manipulation could also be used to introduce domain walls into coupled spin chains on superconductors, potentially impacting topological superconductivity.