Tunneling spectroscopic signatures of charge doping and associated Mott transition in ${\alpha}$-RuCl${_3}$ in proximity to graphite

Abstract

The layered Mott insulator ${\alpha}$-RuCl${_3}$ has been extensively studied as a potential Kitaev quantum spin liquid candidate. Here, by constructing heterostructures with graphite, we employed electron tunneling measurements on few-layer ${\alpha}$-RuCl${_3}$ using a scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy. Characteristic tunneling spectra were detected on ${\alpha}$-RuCl${_3}$ layers in proximity to graphite. In the single-layer ${\alpha}$-RuCl${_3}$ in direct contact with graphite, distinct states in the Mott-gap regime were observed. The in-gap states are demonstrated to be closely related to the electron orbitals in ${\alpha}$-RuCl${_3}$ and graphite, and to be sensitive to interfacial coupling, where a hybridization at the heterointerface is hypothesized. The in-gap states are also thought of as a charge reservoir for weakly doping the ${\alpha}$-RuCl${_3}$ upper-layers. It demonstrated that the weak doping effect causes a considerable decrease in the Mott-gap within the upper-layers, suggesting that an unconventional Mott-transition is occurring in these layers. The results show that the heterostructure comprised of ${\alpha}$-RuCl${_3}$ and graphite is a good platform for investigating the doping physics in ${\alpha}$-RuCl${_3}$. Therefore, tunneling into such a doped system is a useful probe for studying otherwise insulating spin-liquid candidates.