Spectroscopic Imaging Scanning Tunneling Microscopy as a Probe of Orbital Structures and Ordering

Abstract

Unlike charge and spin, the orbital degree of freedom of electrons in transition metal oxides is difficult to detect. We present the theoretical study of a new detection method in metallic orbitally active systems by analyzing the quasiparticle scattering interference (QPI) pattern of the spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling spectroscopy, which is sensitive to orbital structures and orbital ordering. The QPIs for the $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$-orbital bands in the $t_{2g}$-orbital systems show a characteristic stripe-like feature as a consequence of their quasi-one-dimensional nature, which is robust against orbital hybridization. With the occurrence of orbital ordering proposed in Sr${}_3$Ru${}_2$O${}_7$ and iron-pnictides, the stripe-like QPI patterns exhibit nematic distortion breaking the $C_4$-symmetry.

4 pages, 3 figures, final version to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett

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• Fermi surface and van Hove singularities in the itinerant metamagnet Sr3Ru2O7
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• Unconventional metamagnetic electron states in orbital band systems
• Van Hove singularity and spontaneous Fermi surface symmetry breaking in Sr3Ru2O7
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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Majorana surface modes of nodal topological pairings in spin-$\frac{3}{2}$ semi-metals
• Quasiparticle Interference in the Unconventional Metamagnetic Compound Sr${}_3$Ru${}_2$O${}_7$
• Symmetry of re-entrant tetragonal phase in Ba1-xNaxFe2As2: Magnetic versus orbital ordering mechanism
• Real-space BCS-BEC crossover in FeSe monolayer
• Phonon Anomalies, Orbital-Ordering and Electronic Raman Scattering in iron-pnictide Ca(Fe0.97Co0.03)2As2: Temperature-dependent Raman Study
• Uniaxial "nematic-like" electronic structure and Fermi surface of untwinned CaFe2As2
• Quasiparticle scattering in three-dimensional topological insulators near the thickness limit