Symmetry-Breaking Phase Transition without Peierls Mechanism in Conducting Monoatomic Chains
Abstract
The one-dimensional (1D) model system Au/Ge(001), consisting of linear chains of single atoms on a surface, is scrutinized for lattice instabilities predicted in the Peierls paradigm. By scanning tunneling microscopy and electron diffraction we reveal a second-order phase transition at 585 K. It leads to charge ordering with transversal and vertical displacements and complex interchain correlations. However, the structural phase transition is not accompanied by the electronic signatures of a charge density wave, thus precluding a Peierls instability as origin. Instead, this symmetry-breaking transition exhibits three-dimensional critical behavior. This reflects a dichotomy between the decoupled 1D electron system and the structural elements that interact via the substrate. Such substrate-mediated coupling between the wires thus appears to have been underestimated also in related chain systems.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1109.5832,
title = {Symmetry-Breaking Phase Transition without Peierls Mechanism in Conducting Monoatomic Chains},
author = {C. Blumenstein and J. Schaefer and M. Morresi and S. Mietke and R. Matzdorf and R. Claessen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1109.5832},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
5 pages, 4 figures, accepted at Physical Review Letters 09/2011