Observation of a Mott insulating ground state for Sn/Ge(111) at low temperature

We report an investigation on the properties of 0.33 ML of Sn on Ge(111) at temperatures down to 5 K. Low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy show that the (3x3) phase formed at approximately 200 K, reverts to a new ((square root 3)x(square root 3))R30 degrees phase below 3...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2006-03, Vol.96 (12), p.126103-126103, Article 126103
Main Authors: Cortés, R, Tejeda, A, Lobo, J, Didiot, C, Kierren, B, Malterre, D, Michel, E G, Mascaraque, A
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We report an investigation on the properties of 0.33 ML of Sn on Ge(111) at temperatures down to 5 K. Low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy show that the (3x3) phase formed at approximately 200 K, reverts to a new ((square root 3)x(square root 3))R30 degrees phase below 30 K. The vertical distortion characteristic of the (3x3) phase is lost across the phase transition, which is fully reversible. Angle-resolved photoemission experiments show that, concomitantly with the structural phase transition, a metal-insulator phase transition takes place. The ((square root 3)x(square root 3))R30 degrees ground state is interpreted as the formation of a Mott insulator for a narrow half-filled band in a two-dimensional triangular lattice.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.126103