Extended staggered-flux phases in two-dimensional lattices

TL;DR

This paper explores the stability of extended staggered-flux phases in 2D lattice models, revealing their dominance over traditional phases and their role as generalized orbital-antiferromagnetic instabilities.

Contribution

It introduces and analyzes extended staggered-flux phases in 2D lattices, showing their stability and dominance in certain electron filling regimes, expanding understanding of flux phases.

Findings

Extended SF phases can dominate over traditional SF phases.

Some extended SF phases compete with Fermi-liquid phases.

Extended SF phases occupy significant regions in the phase diagram.

Abstract

Based on the so called $t$-$\phi$ model in two-dimensional (2D) lattices, we investigate the stabilities of a class of extended staggered-flux (SF) phases (which are the extensions of the $\sqrt{2}\times\sqrt{2}$ SF phase to generalized spatial periods) against the Fermi-liquid phase. Surprisingly, when away from the nesting electron filling, some extended-SF phases take over the dominant SF phase (the $\sqrt{2}\times\sqrt{2}$ SF phase for the square lattice, a $1\times\sqrt{3}$ SF phase for the triangular one), compete with the Fermi-liquid phase in nontrivial patterns, and still occupy significant space in the phase diagram through the advantage in the total electronic kinetic energies. The results can be termed as the generalized Perierls orbital-antiferromagnetic instabilities of the Fermi-liquid phase in 2D lattice-electron models.