title: Band splitting for Si(557)-Au: is it spin-charge separation?
abstract: It has been proposed that the Si(557)-Au surface exhibits spin-charge separation in a one-dimensional electron liquid. Two narrowly spaced bands are found which exhibit a well-defined splitting at the Fermi level. That is incompatible with the assignment to a spinon-holon pair in a Luttinger liquid. Instead, we propose that the two bands are associated with two nearly degenerate atomic chains, or a chain of step atoms with two broken bonds. Such an assignment explains why the surface is metallic despite an even number of electrons per unit cell.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Losio
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Altmann
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kirakosian
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: D Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Petrovykh
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Himpsel