Direct visualization of a disorder driven electronic smectic phase in nonsymmorphic square-net semimetal GdSbTe

Abstract Electronic liquid crystal (ELC) phases are spontaneous symmetry breaking states believed to arise from strong electron correlation in quantum materials such as cuprates and iron pnictides. Here, we report a direct observation of a smectic phase in a weakly correlated nonsymmorphic square-net semimetal GdSbxTe2-x. Incommensurate smectic charge modulation and intense local unidirectional nanostructure, which coexist with Dirac fermions across Fermi level, are visualized by using spectroscopic imaging—scanning tunneling microscopy. As materials with highly mobile carriers are mostly weakly correlated, the discovery of such an ELC phase are anomalous and raise questions on the origin of their emergence. Specifically, we demonstrate how chemical substitution generates these symmetry breaking phases before the system undergoes a charge density wave (CDW)—orthorhombic structural transition. Our results highlight the importance of impurities in realizing ELC phases and present a new material platform for exploring the interplay among quenched disorder, Dirac fermions and electron correlation.