Intrinsic Heavy Wigner Crystal Forged by Transferred <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> <mml:mi>f</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> Electrons

As a quintessential quantum matter, realizing robust Wigner crystals and achieving their angstrom-scale imaging remain formidable challenges. Here, we devise an original charge-transfer-crystallization strategy to realize an intrinsic electron solid made of 4f electrons. The highly localized and correlated nature of 4f electrons gives rise to a heavy Wigner crystal. This unprecedented heaviness manifests as an electron solid with record-high density (2.02×10^{13}/cm^{-2}) and melting temperature (>60 K). Q-plus atomic force microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy are employed to directly image the Wigner crystal, by which the sub-unit-cell localization and electrostatic influence of Wigner electrons are accurately determined. Moreover, the collective tunneling is captured, underlining the quantum nature of a Wigner crystal. Our discovery presents the 4f system as a tunable platform with the charge-transfer degree of freedom to study the 2D many-body correlation of heavy electrons.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Letters
Published
2025-11-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/h96x-9d3y
Primary Topic
Quantum and electron transport phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Intrinsic Heavy Wigner Crystal Forged by Transferred <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> <mml:mi>f</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> Electrons

Karl J. Friston
Physical Review Letters
Quantum and electron transport phenomena
article

Intrinsic Heavy Wigner Crystal Forged by Transferred <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> <mml:mi>f</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> Electrons

Karl J. Friston
article en

Abstract

As a quintessential quantum matter, realizing robust Wigner crystals and achieving their angstrom-scale imaging remain formidable challenges. Here, we devise an original charge-transfer-crystallization strategy to realize an intrinsic electron solid made of 4f electrons. The highly localized and correlated nature of 4f electrons gives rise to a heavy Wigner crystal. This unprecedented heaviness manifests as an electron solid with record-high density (2.02×10^{13}/cm^{-2}) and melting temperature (>60 K). Q-plus atomic force microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy are employed to directly image the Wigner crystal, by which the sub-unit-cell localization and electrostatic influence of Wigner electrons are accurately determined. Moreover, the collective tunneling is captured, underlining the quantum nature of a Wigner crystal. Our discovery presents the 4f system as a tunable platform with the charge-transfer degree of freedom to study the 2D many-body correlation of heavy electrons.

Physical Review LettersVol. 135(26)
Fudan University (CN), Hefei University (CN), Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 68%
Quantum and electron transport phenomena
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