RESUMO
When electrons are subject to a potential with two incommensurate periods, translational invariance is lost, and no periodic band structure is expected. However, model calculations based on nearly free one-dimensional electrons and experimental results from high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy on a quasi-one-dimensional material do show dispersing band states with signatures of both periodicities. Apparent band structures are generated by the nonuniform distribution of electronic spectral weight over the complex eigenvalue spectrum.
RESUMO
Optical and photoemission experiments reveal unexpected spectral signatures of one-dimensional band insulators. In the model compound (NbSe (4))3I the optical conductivity decays as a power law sigma(1)(omega) approximately omega(-4.25) above a sharp gap edge. Photoemission observes both the valence and a shadow band, produced by a commensurate superstructure. We identify an optical and photoemission band gap consistent with other measurements but much smaller than the energy scale defined by the dispersion of the band peak in the photoemission spectra.