Dramatic Plasmon Response to the Charge-Density-Wave Gap Development in $1\textit{T}-{\mathrm{TiSe}}_{2}$

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy to investigate how the plasmon response in 1T-TiSe2 varies with temperature and the charge density wave transition, revealing significant changes linked to the CDW gap development.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed temperature-dependent analysis of plasmon behavior in 1T-TiSe2, clarifying the impact of the CDW gap on plasmon damping and lifetime.

Findings

Plasmon can be clearly distinguished from phonon modes.

Landau damping affects the plasmon at finite momentum.

Plasmon lifetime at zero momentum is highly sensitive to the CDW gap.

Abstract

1T-TiSe2 is one of the most studied charge density wave (CDW) systems, not only because of its peculiar properties related to the CDW transition, but also due to its status as a promising candidate of exciton insulator signaled by the proposed plasmon softening at the CDW wave vector. Using high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, we report a systematic study of the temperature-dependent plasmon behaviors of 1T-TiSe2. We unambiguously resolve the plasmon from phonon modes, revealing the existence of Landau damping to the plasmon at finite momentums, which does not support the plasmon softening picture for exciton condensation. Moreover, we discover that the plasmon lifetime at zero momentum responds dramatically to the bandgap evolution associated with the CDW transition. The interband transitions near the Fermi energy in the normal phase is demonstrated serving as a strong damping channel of plasmons, while such a channel in the CDW phase is suppressed due to the CDW gap opening, which results in the dramatic tunability of the plasmon in semimetals or small-gap semiconductors.