p Orbital Flat Band and Dirac Cone in the Electronic Honeycomb Lattice

Theory anticipates that the in-plane p(x), p(y) orbitals in a honeycomb lattice lead to potentially useful quantum electronic phases. So far, p orbital bands were only realized for cold atoms in optical lattices and for light and exciton-polaritons in photonic crystals. For electrons, in-plane p orbital physics is difficult to access since natural electronic honeycomb lattices, such as graphene and silicene, show strong s-p hybridization. Here, we report on electronic honeycomb lattices prepared on a Cu(111) surface in a scanning tunneling microscope that, by design, show (nearly) pure orbital bands, including the p orbital flat band and Dirac cone.