Quasi-One-Dimensional Metal-Insulator Transitions in Compound Semiconductor Surfaces.
Existing examples of Peierls-type 1D systems on surfaces involve depositing metallic overlayers on semiconducting substrates, in particular, at step edges. Here we propose a new class of Peierls system on the (101[over ¯]0) surface of metal-anion wurtzite semiconductors. When the anions are bonded to hydrogen or lithium atoms, we obtain rows of threefold coordinated metal atoms that act as one-atom-wide metallic structures. First-principles calculations show that the surface is metallic, and below a certain critical temperature the surface will condense to a semiconducting state. The idea of surface scaffolding is introduced in which the rows are constrained to move along simple up-down and/or sideways displacements, mirroring the paradigm envisioned in Peierls's description. We predict that this type of insulating state should be visible in the partially hydrogenated (101[over ¯]0) surface of many wurtzite compounds.
Department of Physics, South University of Science and Technology of China, 518055 Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.|Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 116023 Dalian, People's Republic of China.
J Z
JZ
Zhao
Computational Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
W
W
Fan
Département de Physique and European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility, Universite de Liège, B-4000 Sart Tilman, Liège, Belgium.
M J
MJ
Verstraete
Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-1) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-1), Forschungszebtrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany.|Institute for Theoretical Solid State Physics and European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility (ETSF), RWTH Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany.|Department of Physics, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, People's Republic of China.
Z
Z
Zanolli
Department of Physics, South University of Science and Technology of China, 518055 Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.
J
J
Fan
School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), 518172 Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.
X B
XB
Yang
Department of Physics, South University of Science and Technology of China, 518055 Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.
H
H
Xu
Department of Physics, South University of Science and Technology of China, 518055 Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.|School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), 518172 Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.
S Y
SY
Tong