Quasiparticle interference as a tool to study quantum materials

Abstract

To understand the properties of quantum materials a detailed knowledge of the material's low energy electronic structure is key. Details of the electronic structure drive the ground state through electronic instabilities, electronic correlation effects, new electronic orders or just the absence of electronic states near the Fermi energy - making a realistic and detailed understanding crucial to be able to control and design properties of quantum materials. The past 25 years have seen a significant improvement in experimental techniques to observe the true electronic structure, in particular in techniques such as Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) where energy resolutions of 2meV are routinely achievable now, which however is limited to zero magnetic field and only provides information about the occupied states. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) achieves a significantly better energy resolution <100${\mu}$eV and can operate at temperatures well below 50mK and in magnetic fields. While per se a real-space technique, by imaging quasiparticle interference (QPI) STM can also provide information about the electronic structure. This technique has been used over the past decades to study a wide range of quantum materials to understand correlated electron behaviour. Recent theoretical progress now enables routine modelling of QPI, a key requirement to interpret the complex data. Here, we review the principles of QPI, its origin, experimental detection, and the physical insight gained from the study of QPI and possible future directions for this technique.