Real-space observation of incommensurate spin density wave and coexisting charge density wave on Cr (001) surface

In itinerant magnetic systems, a spin density wave (SDW) state can be induced by Fermi surface nesting and electron-electron interaction. It may intertwine with other orders such as charge density wave (CDW), while their relation is still yet to be understood. Here via spin-polarized scanning tunnel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2022-01, Vol.13 (1), p.445-445, Article 445
Main Authors: Hu, Yining, Zhang, Tianzhen, Zhao, Dongming, Chen, Chen, Ding, Shuyue, Yang, Wentao, Wang, Xu, Li, Chihao, Wang, Haitao, Feng, Donglai, Zhang, Tong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
147/138
639/301/119/997
639/766/119/2795
639/766/119/544
Charge density waves
Chromium
Crystal lattices
Density of states
Displays
Fermi surfaces
Humanities and Social Sciences
Microscopy
Modulation
multidisciplinary
Nesting
Scanning tunneling microscopy
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spin density waves
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Summary:In itinerant magnetic systems, a spin density wave (SDW) state can be induced by Fermi surface nesting and electron-electron interaction. It may intertwine with other orders such as charge density wave (CDW), while their relation is still yet to be understood. Here via spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy, we directly observed long-range spin modulation on Cr(001) surface, which corresponds to the well-known incommensurate SDW of bulk Cr. It displays 6.0 nm in-plane period and anti-phase behavior between adjacent (001) planes. Meanwhile, we simultaneously observed the coexisting CDW with half the period of SDW. Such SDW/CDW have highly correlated domain structures and are in-phase. Surprisingly, the CDW displays a contrast inversion around a density-of-states dip at −22 meV, indicating an anomalous CDW gap opened below E F . These observations support that the CDW is a secondary order driven by SDW. Our work is not only a real-space characterization of incommensurate SDW, but also provides insights on how SDW and CDW coexist. Spin density waves are a spatial modulation of the spin, and can be either commensurate or incommensurate with the crystal lattice. Here, Hu et al. use spin-polarised scanning tunnelling microscopy to observe the incommensurate spin density wave on cleaned Chromium surface.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-022-28104-2