Article abstract
Nature Physics 2, 397 - 401 (2006)
doi:10.1038/nphys316
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Materials physics
Distinct spinon and holon dispersions in photoemission spectral functions from one-dimensional SrCuO2
B. J. Kim1, H. Koh2, E. Rotenberg2, S.-J. Oh1, H. Eisaki3, N. Motoyama4, S. Uchida4, T. Tohyama5, S. Maekawa5,6, Z.-X. Shen7 and C. Kim8
Abstract
Spin and charge are inseparable traits of an electron, but in one-dimensional solids, theory predicts their separation into collective modes—as independent excitation quanta (or particles) called spinons and holons. Experimentalists have long sought to verify this effect. Angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) should provide the most direct evidence of spin–charge separation, as the single quasiparticle peak splits into a spinon–holon two-peak-like structure. Despite extensive ARPES experiments, the unambiguous observation of the two-peak structure has remained elusive. Here we report ARPES data from SrCuO2, made possible by recent technological developments, that unequivocally show the spinon–holon two-peak structure and their distinct dispersions. The spinon and holon branches are found to have energy scales of 
0.43 and 1.3 eV, respectively, which are in quantitative agreement with the theoretical predictions.
- School of Physics and Center for Strongly Correlated Materials Research, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Nanoelectronic Research Institute, AIST, Tsukuba 305-0032, Japan
- Department of Superconductivity, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
- CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan
- Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Stanford, California 94305, USA
- Institute of Physics and Applied Physics, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
Correspondence to: B. J. Kim1 e-mail: bjkim6@gmail.com
Correspondence to: C. Kim8 e-mail: cykim@phya.yonsei.ac.kr
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