Continuous tuning of electronic correlations by alkali adsorption on layered 1T-TaS2

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy shows that a Mott-Hubbard type metal-insulator transition occurs at the Rb adsorbed surface of the layered charge-density-wave compound 1T-TaS2. The transition is driven by adsorption induced modifications of the charge-density wave and of the interlayer coupling, leading to an increase of the on-site Coulomb correlation energy and a narrowing of the Ta 5d band perpendicular to the layers, respectively. The continuous rearrangement of spectral weight is measured live during the deposition process.