Modulated honeycomb lattices and their magnetic properties

Abstract: We propose a family of modulated honeycomb lattices, a class of quasiperiodic tilings characterized by the metallic mean. These lattices consist of six distinct hexagonal prototiles with two edge lengths, $\ell$ and $s$, and can be regarded as a continuous deformation of the honeycomb lattice. The structural properties are examined through their substitution rules. To study the electronic properties, we construct a tight-binding model on the tilings, introducing two types of hopping integrals, $t_L$ and $t_S$, corresponding to the two edge lengths, $\ell$ and $s$, respectively. By diagonalizing the Hamiltonian on these quasiperiodic tilings, we compute the corresponding density of states (DOS). Our analysis reveals that the introduction of quasiperiodicity in the distribution of hopping integrals induces a spiky structure in the DOS at higher energies, while the linear DOS at low energies ($E\sim 0$) remains robust. This contrasts with the smooth DOS in the disordered tight-binding model, where two types of hopping integrals are randomly distributed according to a given ratio. Furthermore, we study the magnetic properties of the Hubbard model on modulated honeycomb lattices by means of real-space Hartree approximations. A magnetic phase transition occurs at a finite interaction strength due to the absence of the noninteracting DOS at the Fermi level. When $t_L\sim t_S$, the phase transition point is primarily governed by the linear DOS. However, far from the condition $t_L=t_S$, the quasiperiodic structure plays a significant role in reducing the critical interaction strength, which is in contrast to the disordered system. Using perpendicular space analysis, we demonstrate that sublattice asymmetry inherent in the quasiperiodic tilings emerges in the magnetic profile, providing insights into the interplay between quasiperiodicity and electronic correlations.