Band splitting for Si(557)-Au: is it spin-charge separation?
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.
Losio
R
R
Department of Physics, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom.
Altmann
K N
KN
Kirakosian
A
A
Lin
J L
JL
Petrovykh
D Y
DY
Himpsel
F J
FJ