Interplay of Kekul\'{e} bond order and lattice instability in $\mathrm{C}_6\mathrm{Li}$
Abstract
Understanding the interplay between charge order and lattice instability in quantum materials remains a central challenge, as their coexistence often obscures causal relationships. This work introduces as a novel platform to investigate charge order mediated by two distinct mechanisms. We show that the hybridization between carbon and lithium orbitals generates an effective long-range hopping within Li-centered hexagons. This hopping drives a Kekul\'{e} bond order, whose structure varies with charge density and the sign of the hopping. This bond order induces a Kekul\'{e} lattice distortion via electron-phonon coupling. In the limit where lithium atoms are distant from the graphene layer, a Fermi surface nesting-driven Kekul\'{e} bond order emerges, stabilized by the electron-phonon interaction. Our results establish as a tunable platform for elucidating the causal hierarchy between electronic and structural orders in quantum materials.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.07491,
title = {Interplay of Kekul\'{e} bond order and lattice instability in $\mathrm{C}_6\mathrm{Li}$},
author = {Yuanhao Zhang and Zi Yuan and Xiangru Kong and Weijiang Gong and Shaozhi Li},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.07491},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
7 pages and 4 figures. Comments are welcome