Eigenstate multifractality is a distinctive feature of noninteracting disordered metals close to a metal–insulator transition, whose properties are expected to extend to superconductivity. While multifractality in three dimensions (3D) only develops near the critical point for specific strong-disorder strengths, multifractality in 2D systems is expected to be observable even for weak disorder. Here we provide evidence for multifractal features in the superconducting state of an intrinsic, weakly disordered single-layer NbSe2 by means of low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy. The superconducting gap, characterized by its width, depth, and coherence peaks’ amplitude, shows a characteristic spatial modulation coincident with the periodicity of the quasiparticle interference pattern. The strong spatial inhomogeneity of the superconducting gap width, proportional to the local order parameter in the weak-disorder regime, follows a log-normal statistical distribution as well as a power-law decay of the two-point correlation function, in agreement with our theoretical model. Furthermore, the experimental singularity spectrum f(α) shows anomalous scaling behavior typical from 2D weakly disordered systems.
Bulk and single-layer 2H-NbSe 2 exhibit identical charge density wave order (CDW) with a quasi-commensurate 3×3 superlattice periodicity. Here we combine scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) imaging at T = 1 K of 2H-NbSe 2 with firstprinciples density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the structural atomic rearrangement of this CDW phase. Our calculations for single-layers reveal that six different atomic structures are compatible with the 3×3 CDW distortion, although all of them lie on a very narrow energy range of at most 3 meV per formula unit, suggesting the coexistence of such structures. Our atomically resolved STM images of bulk 2H-NbSe 2 unambiguously confirm this by identifying two of these structures. Remarkably, these structures differ from the X-ray crystal structure reported for the bulk 3×3 CDW which, in fact, is also one of the six DFT structures located for the single-layer. Our calculations also show that due to the minute energy difference between the different phases, the ground state of the 3×3 CDW could be extremely sensitive to doping, external strain or internal pressure within the crystal. The presence of multi-phase CDW order in 2H-NbSe 2 may provide further understanding of its low temperature state and the competition between different instabilities.
The ability to electrically-drive spin excitations in molecules with magnetic anisotropy is key for high-density storage and quantum-information technology. Electrons, however, also tunnel via the vibrational excitations unique to a molecule. The interplay of spin and vibrational excitations offers novel routes to study and, ultimately, electrically manipulate molecular magnetism. Here we use a scanning tunneling microscope to electrically induce spin and vibrational excitations in a single molecule consisting of a nickelocene magnetically coupled to a Ni atom. We evidence a vibron-assisted spin excitation at an energy one order of magnitude higher compared to the usual spin excitations of nickelocene and explain it using first-principles calculations that include electron correlations. Furthermore, we observe that spin excitations can be quenched by modifying the Ni-nickelocene coupling. Our study suggests that nickelocene-based complexes constitute a model playground for exploring the interaction of spin and vibrations in the electron transport through single magnetic molecules.Magnetic molecules are potential candidates for information-storing technology [1], molecular spintronics [2] and quantum computing [3], provided that their axial magnetic anisotropy DS 2 z ensures a magnetic bistability among longlived magnetic states. But molecules also vibrate. In particular, in magnetic molecules the interplay of vibrational modes, or vibrons, with the spin degrees of freedom is known to impact the spin lifetime [4][5][6]. Since vibrational modes can couple to the electric charge, producing vibron-assisted electron excitations in transport [7][8][9], expectations are that similar effects should be also observed with the electronic spin [10,11].Concerning this last point, experimental work has predominantly focused on a well-known spin-related manybody effect, the Kondo effect. The electron-vibron interaction in Kondo molecules was shown to produce satellite Kondo resonances in the differential conductance spectra at the bias of the vibron's excitation energy [12][13][14]. These resonances were ascribed to tunneling electrons that have their spin flipped when elastically scattering off the molecular spin, but with sufficient energy to activate a vibrational mode in the molecule [15]. The question arises whether a similar mechanism is also possible with other spin scattering mechanisms that magnetically excite a molecule such as inelastic scattering involving magnetic anisotropy [16]. These so-called spin excitations show great potential in view of an all-electrical manipulation of the molecular spin [17,18].Here, we use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to demonstrate the presence of a combined vibrational-spin excitation in a single nickelocene molecule [Ni(C 5 H 5 ) 2 , see Fig. 1(d); noted Nc hereafter] coupled to a Ni atom. Nickelocene is a spin S = 1 molecule of the metallocene family with magnetic anisotropy, where spin excitations produce a sizable increase of the electronic transport [19]. We show that the o...
Vertically stacked two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures composed of 2D semiconductors have attracted great attention. Most of these include hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as either a substrate, an encapsulant, or a tunnel barrier. However, reliable synthesis of large-area and epitaxial 2D heterostructures incorporating BN remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate the epitaxial growth of nominal monolayer (ML) MoSe 2 on h-BN/Rh(111) by molecular beam epitaxy, where the MoSe 2 /h-BN layer system can be transferred from the growth substrate onto SiO 2. The valence band structure of ML MoSe 2 /h-BN/Rh(111) revealed by photoemission electron momentum microscopy (kPEEM) shows that the valence band maximum located at the K point is 1.33 eV below the Fermi level (E F), whereas the energy difference between K and Γ points is determined to be 0.23 eV, demonstrating that the electronic properties, such as the direct band gap and the effective mass of ML MoSe 2 , are well preserved in MoSe 2 /h-BN heterostructures.
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