Chiral domain dynamics and transient interferences of mirrored superlattices in nonequilibrium electronic crystals

Abstract

Mirror symmetry plays a major role in determining the properties of matter and is of particular interest in condensed many-body systems undergoing symmetry breaking transitions under non-equilibrium conditions. Typically, in the aftermath of such transitions, one of the two possible broken symmetry states is emergent. However, synthetic systems and those formed under non-equilibrium conditions may exhibit metastable states comprising of both left (L) and right (R) handed symmetry. Here we explore the formation of chiral charge-density wave (CDW) domains after a laser quench in 1T-TaS2 with scanning tunneling microscopy. Typically, we observed transient domains of both chiralities, separated spatially from each other by domain walls with different structure. In addition, we observe transient density of states modulations consistent with interference of L and R-handed charge density waves within the surface monolayer. Theoretical modeling of the intertwined domain structures using a classical charged lattice gas model reproduces the experimental domain wall structures. The superposition (S) state cannot be understood classically within the correlated electron model but is found to be consistent with interferences of L and R-handed charge-density waves within domains, confined by surrounding domain walls, vividly revealing an interference of Fermi electrons with opposite chirality, which is not a result of inter-layer interference, but due to the interaction between electrons within a single layer, confined by domain wall boundaries.