Layer- and substrate-dependent charge density wave criticality in 1T–TiSe2

Abstract

TiSe2 exhibits an unconventional charge density wave (CDW) that has been associated with an excitonic insulator transition. Here we investigate how the CDW transition is changed for single to few layers compared to bulk TiSe2. TiSe2 grown by molecular beam epitaxy on HOPG- or MoS2-substrates is characterized by variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. We show that the CDW state persists for the monolayer but the transition temperature TCDW is significantly increased compared to the bulk. Furthermore, TCDW is strongly dependent on the substrate material. Within the model of an excitonic insulator phase for TiSe2, the substrate dependence may be associated with variations of the excitonic binding energies by the dielectric properties of the substrate. Interestingly, for single layer TiSe2 on HOPG we also observe peaks in the tunneling spectra below 50 K, which are tentatively assigned to coherence peaks of an excitonic condensate. The peaks are observed below TCDW of ~230 K, suggesting that an excitonic insulator induced CDW can exist without a phase coherent state.