Emergent interweaved CDW unoccupied states in hole-doping LaTe₂ with element substitution

Multiple charge density wave (CDW)-ordered layered rare-earth tellurides have increasingly emerged as a research hotspot owing to their unconventional CDW formation, high transition temperatures, and confirmed existence of axial Higgs modes. Recently, interweaved CDWs in LaTe_2 and its element-substituted phase LaTe_2-xSb_x have been investigated through TEM and ARPES measurements, revealing their distinct origins. Nevertheless, several complex diffraction features observed in TEM patterns remain unexplained. In this work, we carried out scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on LaTe_1.6Sb_0.4 crystals at 9 K. Three interweaved CDW wave vectors, q_1=8/11a^\ast, q_2=5/11a^\ast and q_3=3/11a^\ast, were observed, which are induced by hole doping in unoccupied states. The q_1 and q_3 vectors are theoretically verified to be nesting vectors connecting p_x and p_y bands. Furthermore, satellite spots relative to the main Bragg spots, corresponding to an 11-a superlattice, have also been detected. Our findings provide critical insights into further exploring the origin of interweaved CDWs in hole- and electron-doped materials.