Visualization and manipulation of four-leaf clover-shaped electronic state in cuprate

TL;DR

This study reports the discovery of a four-leaf clover-shaped electronic state in cuprates, its evolution with doping, and real-time electric-field manipulation, offering new insights into high-Tc superconductivity mechanisms.

Contribution

First observation of a four-leaf clover-shaped electronic state in cuprates and demonstration of its electric-field control.

Findings

FLC state size is 2a0 and appears at low energy.

FLC pattern diminishes with increased doping and disappears in overdoped samples.

Electric-field can manipulate the FLC state in real-time.

Abstract

High-Tc superconductivity in cuprates arises from carrier doping of an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator. Associated with these changes are spectral-weight transfers from the high-energy to low-energy, giving rise to a variety of intriguing electronic phenomena. In this study, for the first time, we discovered a 2a0 sized four-leaf clover-shaped (FLC) electronic state at low-energy, accompanied with the emergence of a characteristic "kink" around 16meV. With increasing doping, the number of FLC pattern decreases and ultimately vanishes in the overdoped region. Remarkably, we achieved real-time electric-field manipulation of this FLC state, through innovative in-situ scanning tunneling microscopy probe. This novel FLC state may not only redefine our understanding of precursor states of pairing, but also reveals its crucial role as a tunable electronic phase in high-Tc superconductors.