Orbital magnetic field driven metal–insulator transition in spinless extended Falicov–Kimball model on a triangular lattice

Abstract

Ground state properties of spinless, extended Falicov-Kimball model (FKM) on a finite size triangular lattice with orbital magnetic field normal to the lattice are studied using numerical diagonalization and Monte-Carlo simulation methods. We show that the ground state configurations of localized electrons strongly depend on the magnetic field. Magnetic field induces a metal to insulator transition accompanied by segregated phase to an ordered regular phase except at density $n_f = 1/2$ of localized electrons. It is proposed that magnetic field can be used as a new tool to produce segregated phase which was otherwise accessible only either with correlated hopping or with large on-site interactions.