arXiv subjects

Philip Hofmann

Publications and source records attributed to Philip Hofmann.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Electronic Structure of Fe$_{1.08}$Te bulk crystals and epitaxial FeTe thin films on Bi$_2$Te$_3$

The electronic structure of thin films of FeTe grown on Bi$_2$Te$_3$ is investigated using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy and first principles calculations. As a comparison, data from cleaved bulk \FeTe taken under the same experimental conditions is also presented. Due to the substrate and thin film symmetry, FeTe thin films grow on Bi$_2$Te$_3$ in three domains, rotated by 0$^{\circ}$, 120$^{\circ}$, and 240$^{\circ}$. This results in a superposition of photoemission intensity from the domains, complicating the analysis. However, by combining bulk and thin film data, it is possible to partly disentangle the contributions from three domains. We find a close similarity between thin film and bulk electronic structure and an overall good agreement with first principles calculations, assuming a p-doping shift of 65~meV for the bulk and a renormalization factor of around 2. By tracking the change of substrate electronic structure upon film growth, we find indications of an electron transfer from the FeTe film to the substrate. No significant change of the film's electronic structure or doping is observed when alkali atoms are dosed onto the surface. This is ascribed to the film's high density of states at the Fermi energy. This behavior is also supported by the ab-initio calculations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Contact-Induced Semiconductor-to-Metal Transition in Single-Layer WS$_2$

Low-resistance ohmic contacts are a challenge for electronic devices based on two-dimensional materials. We show that an atomically precise junction between a two-dimensional semiconductor and a metallic contact can lead to a semiconductor-to-metal transition in the two-dimensional material--a finding which points the way to a possible method of achieving low-resistance junctions. Specifically, single-layer WS$_2$ undergoes a semiconductor-to-metal transition when epitaxially grown on Ag(111), while it remains a direct band gap semiconductor on Au(111). The metallicity of the single layer on Ag(111) is established by lineshape analysis of core level photoemission spectra. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy locates the metallic states near the Q point of the WS$_2$ Brillouin zone. Density functional theory calculations show that the metallic states arise from hybridization between Ag bulk bands and the local conduction band minimum of WS$_2$ near the Q point.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Strong-coupling charge density wave in a one-dimensional topological metal

Scanning tunnelling microscopy and low energy electron diffraction show a dimerization-like reconstruction in the one-dimensional atomic chains on Bi(114) at low temperatures. While one-dimensional systems are generally unstable against such a distortion, its observation is not expected for this particular surface, since there are several factors that should prevent it: One is the particular spin texture of the Fermi surface, which resembles a one-dimensional topological state, and spin protection should hence prevent the formation of the reconstruction. The second is the very short nesting vector $2 k_F$, which is inconsistent with the observed lattice distortion. A nesting-driven mechanism of the reconstruction is indeed excluded by the absence of any changes in the electronic structure near the Fermi surface, as observed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. However, distinct changes in the electronic structure at higher binding energies are found to accompany the structural phase transition. This, as well as the observed short correlation length of the pairing distortion, suggest that the transition is of the strong coupling type and driven by phonon entropy rather than electronic entropy.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Electron-phonon coupling in the spin-split valence band of single layer WS$_2$

The absence of inversion symmetry leads to a strong spin-orbit splitting of the upper valence band of semiconducting single layer transition metal dichalchogenides such as MoS$_2$ or WS$_2$. This permits a direct comparison of the electron-phonon coupling strength in states that only differ by their spin. Here, the electron-phonon coupling in the valence band maximum of single-layer WS$_2$ is studied by first principles calculations and angle-resolved photoemission. The coupling strength is found to be drastically different for the two spin-split branches, with calculated values of $λ_K=$0.0021 and 0.40 for the upper and lower spin-split valence band of the free-standing layer, respectively. This difference is somewhat reduced when including scattering processes involving the Au(111) substrate present in the experiment and the experimental results confirm the strongly branch-dependent coupling strength.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Quasi one-dimensional metallic band dispersion in the commensurate charge density wave of $1T$-TaS$_2$

The commensurate charge density wave (CDW) in the layered compound $1T$-TaS$_2$ has hitherto mostly been treated as a quasi two-dimensional phenomenon. Recent band structure calculations have, however, predicted that the CDW coexists with a nearly one-dimensional metallic dispersion perpendicular to the crystal planes. Using synchrotron radiation based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we show that this metallic band does in fact exist. Its occupied band width is in excellent agreement with predictions for a simple $τ_c$ stacking order of the CDW between adjacent layers and its periodicity in the $c$ direction is $2 π/ c$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Electron-Phonon Coupling and Surface Debye Temperature of Bi$_2$Te$_3$(111) from Helium Atom Scattering

We have studied the topological insulator Bi$_2$Te$_3$(111) by means of helium atom scattering. The average electron-phonon coupling $λ$ of Bi$_2$Te$_3$(111) is determined by adapting a recently developed quantum-theoretical derivation of the helium scattering probabilities to the case of degenerate semiconductors. Based on the Debye-Waller attenuation of the elastic diffraction peaks of Bi$_2$Te$_3$(111), measured at surface temperatures between $110~\mbox{K}$ and $355~\mbox{K}$, we find $λ$ to be in the range of $0.04-0.11$. This method allows to extract a correctly averaged $λ$ and to address the discrepancy between previous studies. The relatively modest value of $λ$ is not surprising even though some individual phonons may provide a larger electron-phonon interaction. Furthermore, the surface Debye temperature of Bi$_2$Te$_3$(111) is determined as ${\rm Θ}_D = (81\pm6)~\mbox{K}$. The electronic surface corrugation was analysed based on close-coupling calculations. By using a corrugated Morse potential a peak-to-peak corrugation of 9% of the lattice constant is obtained.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Reconstruction-induced trefoil knot Fermi contour of Au(111)

Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we study the effect of the so-called herringbone reconstruction of Au(111) on the dispersion of the free electron-like surface state. While earlier ARPES investigations have only reported a minor interplay of the surface state dispersion and the underlying reconstruction, we show that the uniaxial lattice distortion and the thereby changed reciprocal lattice for the first atomic layer leads to distinct surface state dispersions around the first order reciprocal lattice points of the three domains, creating a constant energy surface resembling a trefoil knot. The findings resolve the long-standing discrepancy between, on one hand, the reconstruction-induced surface state modifications reported in scanning tunnelling microscopy and first principle calculations and, on the other hand, their conspicuous absence in photoemission.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Absence of superconductivity in ultra-thin layers of FeSe synthesized on a topological insulator

The structural and electronic properties of FeSe ultra-thin layers on Bi$_{2}$Se$_{3}$ have been investigated with a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The FeSe multi-layers, which are predominantly 3-5 monolayers (ML) thick, exhibit a hole pocket-like electron band at \barΓ and a dumbbell-like feature at \bar{M}, similar to multi-layers of FeSe on SrTiO$_{3}$. Moreover, the topological state of the Bi2Se3 is preserved beneath the FeSe layer, as indicated by a heavily \it{n}-doped Dirac cone. Low temperature STS does not exhibit a superconducting gap for any investigated thickness down to a temperature of 5 K.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Spin and Valley Control of Free Carriers in Single-Layer WS$_2$

The semiconducting single-layer transition metal dichalcogenides have been identified as ideal materials for accessing and manipulating spin- and valley-quantum numbers due to a set of favorable optical selection rules in these materials. Here, we apply time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to directly probe optically excited free carriers in the electronic band structure of a high quality single layer of WS$_2$. We observe that the optically generated free hole density in a single valley can be increased by a factor of 2 using a circularly polarized optical excitation. Moreover, we find that by varying the photon energy of the excitation we can tune the free carrier density in a given spin-split state around the valence band maximum of the material. The control of the photon energy and polarization of the excitation thus permits us to selectively excite free electron-hole pairs with a given spin and within a single valley.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Evidence for a two-fold symmetric superconducting gap in a monolayer of FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ on a topological insulator

We present our investigations on the superconducting properties of monolayers of FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ grown on the 3D topological insulator Bi$_{2}$Se$_{1.2}$Te$_{1.8}$ using low temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). While the morphology and the overall transition temperature resemble those of similarly doped bulk crystals, the spatially resolved spectroscopic data at 1.1K shows a much larger spatial inhomogeneity in the superconducting energy gaps. Despite the gap inhomogeneity all the spectra can be fitted with a two-fold anisotropic s-wave gap function. The two-fold nature of the gap symmetry is evident from the Bogoliubov quasiparticle interference (QPI) pattern which shows distinct C$_{2}$ symmetric scattering intensities. We argue that the gap inhomogeneity emerges as a result of intrinsic disorder in our system similar to disordered conventional superconductors. Even though most of our findings clearly differ from the current understanding of the corresponding bulk system, it provides an ideal platform to study unconventional superconductivity in Fe chalcogenides thinned down to a single layer and in close proximity to a topological insulator.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Strong electron-phonon coupling in the sigma band of graphene

First-principles studies of the electron-phonon coupling in graphene predict a high coupling strength for the $σ$ band with $λ$ values of up to 0.9. Near the top of the $σ$ band, $λ$ is found to be $\approx 0.7$. This value is consistent with the recently observed kinks in the $σ$ band dispersion by angle-resolved photoemission. While the photoemission intensity from the $σ$ band is strongly influenced by matrix elements due to sub-lattice interference, these effects differ significantly for data taken in the first and neighboring Brillouin zones. This can be exploited to disentangle the influence of matrix elements and electron-phonon coupling. A rigorous analysis of the experimentally determined complex self-energy using Kramers-Kronig transformations further supports the assignment of the observed kinks to strong electron-phonon coupling and yields a coupling constant of $0.6(1)$, in excellent agreement with the calculations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Reorientation of the bicollinear antiferromagnetic structure at the surface of Fe$_{1+y}$Te bulk and thin films

Establishing the relation between the ubiquitous antiferromagnetism in the non-superconducting parent compounds of unconventional superconductors and their superconducting phase is believed to be important for the understanding of the complex physics in these materials. Going from the bulk systems to thin films strongly affects the phase diagram of unconventional superconductors. For Fe$_{1+y}$Te, the parent compound of the Fe$_{1+y}$Se$_{1-x}$Te$_x$ superconductors, bulk sensitive neutron diffraction has revealed an in-plane oriented bicollinear antiferromagnetic structure. Here, we show by spin-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy that on the surfaces of bulk Fe$_{1+y}$Te, as well as on thin films grown on the topological insulator Bi$_2$Te$_3$, the spin direction is canted both away from the surface plane and from the high-symmetry directions of the surface unit cell, while keeping the bicollinear magnetic structure. Our results demonstrate that the magnetism at the Fe-chalcogenide surface markedly deviates from a simple in-plane oriented bicollinear antiferromagnetic structure, which implies that the pairing at the surface of the related superconducting compounds might be different from that in the bulk.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Crystalline and electronic structure of single-layer TaS$_2$

Single-layer TaS$_2$ is epitaxially grown on Au(111) substrates. The resulting two-dimensional crystals adopt the 1H polymorph. The electronic structure is determined by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and found to be in excellent agreement with density functional theory calculations. The single layer TaS$_2$ is found to be strongly n-doped, with a carrier concentration of 0.3(1) extra electrons per unit cell. No superconducting or charge density wave state is observed by scanning tunneling microscopy at temperatures down to 4.7 K.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Ultrafast Band Structure Control of a Two-Dimensional Heterostructure

The electronic structure of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors can be significantly altered by screening effects, either from free charge carriers in the material itself, or by environmental screening from the surrounding medium. The physical properties of 2D semiconductors placed in a heterostructure with other 2D materials are therefore governed by a complex interplay of both intra- and inter-layer interactions. Here, using time- and angle-resolved photoemission, we are able to isolate both the layer-resolved band structure and, more importantly, the transient band structure evolution of a model 2D heterostructure formed of a single layer of MoS$_2$ on graphene. Our results reveal a pronounced renormalization of the quasiparticle gap of the MoS$_2$ layer. Following optical excitation, the band gap is reduced by up to $\sim\!$400 meV on femtosecond timescales due to a persistence of strong electronic interactions despite the environmental screening by the $n$-doped graphene. This points to a large degree of tuneability of both the electronic structure and electron dynamics for 2D semiconductors embedded in a van der Waals-bonded heterostructure.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Evidence for interfacial superconductivity in a bi-collinear antiferromagnetically ordered FeTe monolayer on a topological insulator

The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in Fe-based compounds [1,2] has triggered numerous investigations on the interplay between superconductivity and magnetism [3] and, more recently, on the enhancement of transition temperatures through interface effects [4]. It is widely believed that the emergence of optimal superconductivity is intimately linked to the suppression of long-range antiferromagnetic (AFM) order, although the exact microscopic picture of this relationship remains elusive [1] due to the lack of data with atomic spatial resolution [5-7]. Here, we present a spin-polarized scanning tunneling spectroscopy (SP-STS) study of ultrathin FeTe$_{1-x}$Se$_x$ (x = 0, 0.5) films grown on prototypical Bi-based bulk topological insulators. Surprisingly, we find an energy gap at the Fermi level indicating superconducting correlations up to Tc ~ 6 K for one unit cell thin FeTe layers grown on Bi2Te3 substrates, in contrast to the non-superconducting FeTe bulk compound [8]. Moreover, SP-STS reveals that the energy gap spatially coexists with bicollinear AFM order. This finding opens novel perspectives for theoretical studies of competing orders in Fe-based superconductors as well as for experimental investigations of exotic phases in heterostructures of topological insulators and superconducting layers.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Manifestation of nonlocal electron-electron interaction in graphene

Graphene is an ideal platform to study many-body effects due to its semimetallic character and the possibility to dope it over a wide range. Here we study the width of graphene's occupied $π$-band as a function of doping using angle-resolved photoemission. Upon increasing electron doping, we observe the expected shift of the band to higher binding energies. However, this shift is not rigid and the bottom of the band moves less than the Dirac point. We show that the observed shift cannot be accounted for by band structure calculations in the local density approximation but that non-local exchange interactions must be taken into account.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Band gap engineering by Bi intercalation of graphene on Ir(111)

We report on the structural and electronic properties of a single bismuth layer intercalated underneath a graphene layer grown on an Ir(111) single crystal. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) reveals a hexagonal surface structure and a dislocation network upon Bi intercalation, which we attribute to a $\sqrt{3}\times\sqrt{3}R30°$ Bi structure on the underlying Ir(111) surface. Ab-initio calculations show that this Bi structure is the most energetically favorable, and also illustrate that STM measurements are most sensitive to C atoms in close proximity to intercalated Bi atoms. Additionally, Bi intercalation induces a band gap ($E_g=0.42\,$eV) at the Dirac point of graphene and an overall n-doping ($\sim 0.39\,$eV), as seen in angular-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We attribute the emergence of the band gap to the dislocation network which forms favorably along certain parts of the moiré structure induced by the graphene/Ir(111) interface.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Epitaxial Graphene Investigated with Time- and Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy

In order to exploit the intriguing optical properties of graphene it is essential to gain a better understanding of the light-matter interaction in the material on ultrashort timescales. Exciting the Dirac fermions with intense ultrafast laser pulses triggers a series of processes involving interactions between electrons, phonons and impurities. Here we study these interactions in epitaxial graphene supported on silicon carbide (semiconducting) and iridium (metallic) substrates using ultrafast time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (TR-ARPES) based on high harmonic generation. For the semiconducting substrate we reveal a complex hot carrier dynamics that manifests itself in an elevated electronic temperature and an increase in linewidth of the $π$ band. By analyzing these effects we are able to disentangle electron relaxation channels in graphene. On the metal substrate this hot carrier dynamics is found to be severely perturbed by the presence of the metal, and we find that the electronic system is much harder to heat up than on the semiconductor due to screening of the laser field by the metal.

cond-mat.str-el↗