Manipulation of fractionalized charge in the metastable topologically entangled state of a doped Wigner crystal

Mraz, Anže (avtor), Diego, Michele (avtor), Kranjec, Andrej (avtor), Vodeb, Jaka (avtor), Karpov, Peter (avtor), Gerasimenko, Yaroslav (avtor), Ravnik, Jan (avtor), Vaskivskyi, Yevhenii (avtor), Venturini, Rok (avtor), Kabanov, Viktor V. (avtor), Lipovšek, Benjamin (avtor), Topič, Marko (avtor), Vaskivskyi, Igor (avtor), Mihailović, Dragan (avtor)

Metastability of many-body quantum states is rare and still poorly understood. An exceptional example is the low-temperature metallic state of the layered dichalcogenide 1T-TaS$_2$ in which electronic order is frozen after external excitation. Here we visualize the microscopic dynamics of injected charges in the metastable state using a multiple-tip scanning tunnelling microscope. We observe non-thermal formation of a metastable network of dislocations interconnected by domain walls, that leads to macroscopic robustness of the state to external thermal perturbations, such as small applied currents. With higher currents, we observe annihilation of dislocations following topological rules, accompanied with a change of macroscopic electrical resistance. Modelling carrier injection into a Wigner crystal reveals the origin of formation of fractionalized, topologically entangled networks, which defines the spatial fabric through which single particle excitations propagate. The possibility of manipulating topological entanglement of such networks suggests the way forward in the search for elusive metastable states in quantum many body systems.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: topological matter, electronic properties, electronic materials, metastability, Wigner crystal
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FE - Fakulteta za elektrotehniko; FMF - Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2023
• Št. strani: 8 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 14, art. 8214
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-164448
• UDK: 53
• ISSN pri članku: 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43800-3
• COBISS.SI-ID: 179193091
• Datum objave v RUL: 25.10.2024

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Nature communications
• Skrajšan naslov: Nat. commun.
• Založnik: Springer Nature
• ISSN: 2041-1723
• COBISS.SI-ID: 2315876

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: To je standardna licenca Creative Commons, ki daje uporabnikom največ možnosti za nadaljnjo uporabo dela, pri čemer morajo navesti avtorja.