Emerging one-dimensionality from self-organization of electrons in NbSe$_3$

TL;DR

This study uses Nano-ARPES to reveal a novel one-dimensional electronic order in NbSe3, challenging previous models and uncovering hidden 1D physics in a seemingly 3D material.

Contribution

The paper provides the first direct experimental evidence of complex electron self-organization leading to emergent one-dimensionality in NbSe3.

Findings

Invalidates the canonical imperfect nesting picture.

Reveals a new order with one-dimensional characteristics.

Uncovers hidden 1D physics in a 3D-appearing material.

Abstract

Materials where the electron filling is close to commensurate filling provide one of the great challenges in materials science. Several proposals of unconventional orderings, where the electronic liquid self-organizes into components with distinct properties, were recently put forward, in particular in cuprates and pnictides where electronic nematic orders have been observed. The electrons self-organization is expected to yield complex intra and inter unit cell patterns, and a reduction of dimensionality. Nevertheless, an unambiguous experimental proof of such complex orders, namely the direct observation of distinct dispersions, is still missing. Here we report a Nano Angle Resolved Photo-emission Spectroscopy (Nano-ARPES) study of NbSe$_3$, a material that has been considered a paradigm of charge order. The new data (Fig.1) invalidate the canonical picture of imperfect nesting and reveals the emergence of a novel order. The electrons self-organization uncovers the one-dimensional (1D) physics hidden in a material which naively should be the most 3D of all columnar chalcogenides.