Manipulative Single Electric Dipole with Spontaneous Translational Symmetry Breaking in a Two-Dimensional Crystal
Sprache des Titels:
Englisch
Original Kurzfassung:
It is widely acknowledged that quantum entities with minimal mass cannot undergo spontaneous symmetry breaking due to strong quantum fluctuations. Here, we report the discovery of a positionally settled single electric dipole that can be manipulated and electrically polarized in a monolayer CoCl2-graphite heterostructure, which demonstrates an unprecedented example of spontaneous lattice-translational-symmetry breaking. Scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy show that the solitons are intrinsic paraelectric dipoles driven by synchronous charge-lattice distortion around individual CoCl6 octahedrons. Both the dipole moment and lateral position of the soliton can be manipulated by the electric field exerted from the tip, which offers polarity-switchable and layout-designable electrostatic potential landscapes that determine the band bending configuration. This study exemplifies a brand-new type of local charge-lattice order, appealing for further research on the mechanism underlying the soliton robustness, and the electrically and positionally controllable single dipole supports the feasibility of band tailoring in device applications.
Forschungs-