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Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope
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Nanoscale Superconducting Honeycomb Charge Order in IrTe2
Hyo Sung Kim1,2, Sooran Kim2, Kyoo Kim2
1Center for Artificial Low Dimensional Electronic Systems, Institute for Basic Science (IBS) , Pohang 790-784, Korea.
Nano Letters
|May 26, 2016
Summary
Researchers observed a unique honeycomb charge ordering on an iridium ditelluride (IrTe2) surface, which exhibits superconductivity. This finding offers new insights into complex materials and two-dimensional materials for future applications.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Entanglement of charge and electronic orders is key to understanding complex materials, including high-temperature superconductors.
- Iridium ditelluride (IrTe2) exhibits a cascade of stripe charge orders and a coexisting hexagonal phase with superconducting properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nanometer-scale charge ordering and superconducting state on the cleaved IrTe2 surface.
- To explore the relationship between different charge order phases and superconductivity in IrTe2.
Main Methods:
- Surface characterization of cleaved IrTe2.
- Analysis of atomic and electronic structures.
Main Results:
- Observation of a unique nanometer-scale honeycomb charge ordering on the IrTe2 surface.
- The hexagonal phase, exhibiting honeycomb and hexagon patterns, enters a superconducting state below 3 K.
- Superconductivity was not observed in neighboring stripe charge order domains.
Conclusions:
- The observed honeycomb charge ordering is consistent with charge order phenomena.
- The coexistence of distinct charge order phases and superconductivity in IrTe2 presents a novel physics challenge.
- This study opens new avenues for the functionalization of two-dimensional materials.
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