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<p>Flat bands (FBs), characterized by dispersionless electronic states, strongly enhance electron correlations, making them promising platforms for exploring diverse strongly correlated phenomena. However, achieving FB materials and precise FB control remain significant challenges. Here, we report a material system: crystalline K<sub>3</sub>P thin films exhibiting a bilayer Lieb lattice structure, synthesized on Au(111) by thermal substitution of gold atoms in an intermediate Au<sub>9</sub>P<sub>18</sub> phase with potassium. Combined atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy, scanning tunneling spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations identify three highly anisotropic FBs. Crucially, native charged defects function as negative charge centres (CCs), generating radial band-bending variations at the atomic scale consistent with point-charge electrostatics. Spatial d<i>I</i>/d<i>V</i> mapping directly visualizes the equipotential contours surrounding multiple CCs. This work establishes K<sub>3</sub>P/Au(111) as a tunable FB platform and demonstrates an electrostatic engineering paradigm enabled by defect control, which enables the design of correlated quantum materials with atomic-scale precision.</p>

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Atomic-scale electrostatic engineering of flat bands in a K3P Lieb lattice

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月26日

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  • Yaqi Li,
  • Yani Liu,
  • Heping Li,
  • Xun Xu,
  • Qing Gao,
  • Alessandro Molle,
  • Weichang Hao,
  • Shi Xue Dou,
  • Yi Du

摘要

Flat bands (FBs), characterized by dispersionless electronic states, strongly enhance electron correlations, making them promising platforms for exploring diverse strongly correlated phenomena. However, achieving FB materials and precise FB control remain significant challenges. Here, we report a material system: crystalline K3P thin films exhibiting a bilayer Lieb lattice structure, synthesized on Au(111) by thermal substitution of gold atoms in an intermediate Au9P18 phase with potassium. Combined atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy, scanning tunneling spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations identify three highly anisotropic FBs. Crucially, native charged defects function as negative charge centres (CCs), generating radial band-bending variations at the atomic scale consistent with point-charge electrostatics. Spatial dI/dV mapping directly visualizes the equipotential contours surrounding multiple CCs. This work establishes K3P/Au(111) as a tunable FB platform and demonstrates an electrostatic engineering paradigm enabled by defect control, which enables the design of correlated quantum materials with atomic-scale precision.