2004/06/30 by Y. Kohsaka, K. Iwaya, Katsuya Iwaya +6 · 4 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Condensed matter physics #Doping #Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials #Materials science #Mott insulator #Nanoscopic scale #Nanotechnology #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.93.097004
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 097004 (2004) · To be published in Phys. Rev. Lett
arxiv created 2004/07/02 · openalex publication_date 2004/08/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The spatial variation of electronic states was imaged in the lightly doped Mott insulator Ca_2\ensuremath-xNaxCuO2Cl2 using scanning tunneling microscopy or spectroscopy. We observed nanoscale domains with a high local density of states within an insulating background. The observed domains have a characteristic length scale of 2 nm (\ensuremath∼4--5a, a: lattice constant) with preferred orientations along the tetragonal [100] direction. We argue that such spatially inhomogeneous electronic states are inherent to slightly doped Mott insulators and play an important role for the insulator to metal transition.