Pseudogap in a crystalline insulator doped by disordered metals

TL;DR

This study observes a pseudogap and band structure renormalization at the interface of a crystalline insulator and disordered metals, revealing resonance scattering effects that alter electron behavior.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of band structure renormalization and pseudogap formation caused by resonance scattering in a crystalline insulator doped with disordered metals.

Findings

Observation of a pseudogap of 30-240 meV from the Fermi level.

Identification of band bending back towards zero k due to resonance scattering.

Classification of pseudogaps based on different alkali metals and resonance types.

Abstract

A key to understand how electrons behave in crystalline solids is the band structure that connects the energy of electron waves to their wavenumber (k). Even in the phase of matter with only short-range order (liquid or amorphous solid), the coherent part of electron waves still possesses a band structure. Theoretical models for the band structure of liquid metals were formulated more than 5 decades ago, but thus far, bandstructure renormalization and pseudogap induced by resonance scattering have remained unobserved. Here, we report the observation of this unusual band structure at the interface of a crystalline insulator (black phosphorus) and disordered dopants (alkali metals). We find that a conventional parabolic band structure of free electrons bends back towards zero k with the pseudogap of 30-240 meV from the Fermi level. This is k renormalization caused by resonance scattering that leads to the formation of quasi-bound states in the scattering potential of alkali-metal ions. The depth of this potential tuned by different kinds of alkali metal (Na, K, Rb, and Cs) allows to classify the pseudogap of p-wave and d-wave resonance. Our results may provide a clue to the puzzling spectrum of various crystalline insulators doped by disordered dopants, such as the waterfall dispersion in cuprates.