Observation of an Incommensurate Charge Density Wave in Monolayer TiSe_{2}/CuSe/Cu(111) Heterostructure

Phys Rev Lett. 2022 Jan 14;128(2):026401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.026401.

Abstract

TiSe_{2} is a layered material exhibiting a commensurate (2×2×2) charge density wave (CDW) with a transition temperature of ∼200 K. Recently, incommensurate CDW in bulk TiSe_{2} draws great interest due to its close relationship with the emergence of superconductivity. Here, we report an incommensurate superstructure in monolayer TiSe_{2}/CuSe/Cu(111) heterostructure. Characterizations by low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy show that the main wave vector of the superstructure is ∼0.41a^{*} or ∼0.59a^{*} (here a^{*} is in-plane reciprocal lattice constant of TiSe_{2}). After ruling out the possibility of moiré superlattices, according to the correlation of the wave vectors of the superstructure and the large indirect band gap below the Fermi level, we propose that the incommensurate superstructure is associated with an incommensurate charge density wave (I-CDW). It is noteworthy that the I-CDW is robust with a transition temperature over 600 K, much higher than that of commensurate CDW in pristine TiSe_{2}. Based on our data and analysis, we present that interface effect may play a key role in the formation of the I-CDW state.