Discovery of an unconventional charge density wave at the surface of K0.9Mo6O17

Authors: Daixiang Mou, Aashish Sapkota, H.-H. Kung, Viktor Krapivin, Yun Wu, A. Kreyssig, Xingjiang Zhou, A. I. Goldman, G. Blumberg, Rebecca Flint, Adam Kaminski

Abstract: We use Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES), Raman spectroscopy, Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) and x-ray scattering to reveal an unusual electronically mediated charge density wave (CDW) in K_0.9Mo₆O₁₇. Not only does K_0.9Mo₆O₁₇ lack signatures of electron-phonon coupling, but it also hosts an extraordinary surface CDW, with T_{S_CDW}=220 K nearly twice that of the bulk CDW, T_{B_CDW}=115 K. While the bulk CDW has a BCS-like gap of 12 meV, the surface gap is ten times larger and well in the strong coupling regime. Strong coupling behavior combined with the absence of signatures of strong electron-phonon coupling indicates that the CDW is likely mediated by electronic interactions enhanced by low dimensionality.

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