Nanoscale electronic inhomogeneities in 1T-TaS2

In 1T-TaS2, native defects create electronic inhomogeneities spanning 5-10 nanometers that coexist with a well-formed commensurate charge density wave with a 1.3 nm period. Over these inhomogeneities, the band center shifts by up to 60meV and the gap varies by more than 100 meV. Surprisingly, the charge density wave order is unperturbed. These results reopen questions of how disorder affects charge density wave phases in correlated systems and emphasize the importance of real-space measurements in resolving the structural and electronic properties of quantum materials.