Apparent charge reduction in multipolarons crafted one-by-one in monolayer CrBr3
Abstract Manipulating electrons opens up emerging synthetic strategies. Multipolaron, as a rare quasiparticle containing multiple excess charges collectively dressed with shared local lattice distortions, provides an ideal medium for electron manipulation, yet remains elusive. Here, with scanning tu...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62552-w |
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| author | Min Cai Zeyu Jiang Wen-Ao Liao Hao-Jun Qin Wen-Hao Zhang Jian-Wang Zhou Li-Si Liu Yunfan Liang Damien West Shengbai Zhang Ying-Shuang Fu |
| author_facet | Min Cai Zeyu Jiang Wen-Ao Liao Hao-Jun Qin Wen-Hao Zhang Jian-Wang Zhou Li-Si Liu Yunfan Liang Damien West Shengbai Zhang Ying-Shuang Fu |
| author_sort | Min Cai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Manipulating electrons opens up emerging synthetic strategies. Multipolaron, as a rare quasiparticle containing multiple excess charges collectively dressed with shared local lattice distortions, provides an ideal medium for electron manipulation, yet remains elusive. Here, with scanning tunneling microscopy, we realize electron multipolarons in monolayer CrBr3. The multipolaron is crafted via assembling single monopolarons with the tip, allowing their electron numbers to increase one-by-one controllably. With added electrons, the multipolaron exhibits stronger local band bending and upward shift of the polaronic states. Notably, the apparent charge of the multipolaron can be reduced by tip manipulation. First principles calculations reveal that the multipolaron is stabilized by large diffusion barriers and screening of the substrate. The apparent charge reduction is attributed to the formation of the polaron-exciton droplet where the multipolaron captures holes from the substrate to partially offset the Coulomb repulsion. Our findings establish an approach for studying polaron interactions at the atomic limit. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-81ea5e42f0f84c4190dddce412b9513a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-81ea5e42f0f84c4190dddce412b9513a2025-08-20T04:03:03ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-08-011611810.1038/s41467-025-62552-wApparent charge reduction in multipolarons crafted one-by-one in monolayer CrBr3Min Cai0Zeyu Jiang1Wen-Ao Liao2Hao-Jun Qin3Wen-Hao Zhang4Jian-Wang Zhou5Li-Si Liu6Yunfan Liang7Damien West8Shengbai Zhang9Ying-Shuang Fu10School of Physics and Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyDepartment of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteSchool of Physics and Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologySchool of Physics and Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologySchool of Physics and Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologySchool of Physics and Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologySchool of Physics and Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyDepartment of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteDepartment of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteDepartment of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteSchool of Physics and Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyAbstract Manipulating electrons opens up emerging synthetic strategies. Multipolaron, as a rare quasiparticle containing multiple excess charges collectively dressed with shared local lattice distortions, provides an ideal medium for electron manipulation, yet remains elusive. Here, with scanning tunneling microscopy, we realize electron multipolarons in monolayer CrBr3. The multipolaron is crafted via assembling single monopolarons with the tip, allowing their electron numbers to increase one-by-one controllably. With added electrons, the multipolaron exhibits stronger local band bending and upward shift of the polaronic states. Notably, the apparent charge of the multipolaron can be reduced by tip manipulation. First principles calculations reveal that the multipolaron is stabilized by large diffusion barriers and screening of the substrate. The apparent charge reduction is attributed to the formation of the polaron-exciton droplet where the multipolaron captures holes from the substrate to partially offset the Coulomb repulsion. Our findings establish an approach for studying polaron interactions at the atomic limit.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62552-w |
| spellingShingle | Min Cai Zeyu Jiang Wen-Ao Liao Hao-Jun Qin Wen-Hao Zhang Jian-Wang Zhou Li-Si Liu Yunfan Liang Damien West Shengbai Zhang Ying-Shuang Fu Apparent charge reduction in multipolarons crafted one-by-one in monolayer CrBr3 Nature Communications |
| title | Apparent charge reduction in multipolarons crafted one-by-one in monolayer CrBr3 |
| title_full | Apparent charge reduction in multipolarons crafted one-by-one in monolayer CrBr3 |
| title_fullStr | Apparent charge reduction in multipolarons crafted one-by-one in monolayer CrBr3 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Apparent charge reduction in multipolarons crafted one-by-one in monolayer CrBr3 |
| title_short | Apparent charge reduction in multipolarons crafted one-by-one in monolayer CrBr3 |
| title_sort | apparent charge reduction in multipolarons crafted one by one in monolayer crbr3 |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62552-w |
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