• Accepted Paper

Atomic-scale visualization of quantum phase transition in mixed-valence regime

Xingsen Chen, Junyi Zhang, Qiaoyan Yu, Ruijun Xi, Shasha Xue, Jice Sun, Yi Zhang, Xian Du, Xuhui Ning, Pengyu Hu, Tingwen Miao, Hao Yang, Hemian Yi, Weijiong Chen, Xiaoxue Liu, Liang Liu, Dandan Guan, Yaoyi Li, Shiyong Wang, Canhua Liu, Sangen Zhao, Hao Zheng, and Jinfeng Jia

Phys. Rev. Lett. - Accepted 5 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/17nh-csbr

Abstract

Fe dopants on the surface of a Bi2Te3 thin film grown on a superconducting NbSe2 substrate by molecular beam epitaxy are investigated by a dilution-refrigerator scanning tunneling microscope. Utilizing the tip-induced band bending effect, we precisely manipulate the dopant’s energy level and charge state. When the dopant level is tuned near the superconducting gap, the system reaches the mixed valence regime. Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states emerge, shift continuously, and cross zero energy as the dopant level is tuned, all of which are reproduced by our multi-orbital Anderson-Kanamori model simulations. Unlike conventional exchange-coupling-driven transitions of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states where Kondo screening dominates, the mechanism here is governed by dopant-level-driven charge transfer and resonantly enhanced Kanamori interactions. These findings open a new avenue to quantum state engineering and spin-dependent transport in semiconductor/superconductor hybrid systems.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation

If the author has provided any supplemental materials with this article they will be available upon publication of the version of record.

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation