Chiral charge density wave in 4Hb- and 1T-TaS$_2$: The Role of interlayer coupling

TL;DR

This study uses micro-ARPES and DFT calculations to reveal that 4Hb-TaS$_2$ hosts coexisting chiral CDW domains with weak interlayer coupling, making it a promising platform for studying tunable chiral charge density waves.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed investigation of chiral CDWs in 4Hb-TaS$_2$, highlighting the weak interlayer coupling and coexistence of chiral domains compared to bulk 1T-TaS$_2$.

Findings

Coexisting left- and right-handed CDW domains in 4Hb-TaS$_2$

Negligible out-of-plane dispersion in 4Hb-TaS$_2$

Interlayer interaction in 4Hb-TaS$_2$ is nearly two orders of magnitude weaker

Abstract

We use micro-angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (micro-ARPES) to investigate chiral charge density waves (CDWs) in 4Hb-TaS$_2$ with micron-scale spatial resolution. In the 1T layers of 4Hb-TaS$_2$, we uncover coexisting left- and right-handed CDW domains and resolve four distinct spectral patterns arising from the interplay of chirality and rotational stacking. In contrast, bulk 1T-TaS$_2$ exhibits a uniform chirality. In addition, 4Hb-TaS$_2$ shows negligible out-of-plane dispersion of the 1T-derived bands, in contrast to the pronounced interlayer coupling observed in bulk 1T-TaS$_2$. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations corroborate this picture, revealing that the interlayer interaction of the chiral order in 4Hb-TaS$_2$ is nearly two orders of magnitude weaker than in the 1T polytype. Our findings establish 4Hb-TaS$_2$ as a quasi-two-dimensional platform for exploring tunable chiral CDW phenomena.