SSRL Science
Highlight - February
2008 ![]() | ||||||||||
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A collaboration between scientists at SSRL and the department of Applied
Physics at Stanford University has determined the phase diagram of a new family
of prototypical charge density wave (CDW) compounds. These compounds have the
chemical formula RTe3, where R represents a rare earth element from
La to Tm. In research, the collaborators have used X-ray diffraction and
resistivity measurements to determine the factors affecting the symmetry of the
CDW state, specifically whether the CDW runs in one direction or two.
Charge density waves are a type of coupled electronic-lattice instability found
in quasi-low dimensional materials. The driving force behind the instability is
the reduction in kinetic energy of electrons in the material as a consequence
of establishing a spontaneous periodic modulation of the crystalline lattice
with an appropriate (often incommensurate) wave vector. The symmetry of the
CDW state is very sensitive to the electronic structure of the host material.
In recent work reported in Physical Review B [1], the researchers from
Stanford University (graduate students Nancy Ru and Kyungyun Shin and Professor
Ian Fisher) teamed up with postdoc Cathie Condron and staff member Mike Toney
from SSRL to determine the phase diagram of RTe3, a new family of
prototypical CDW compounds. The crystal structure of these compounds is
illustrated below; they are layered, weakly orthorhombic, and consist of double
layers of nominally planar Te sheets separated by RTe slabs.
Fig 1. (Left) Crystal structure of RTe3, illustrating bilayers of
nominally square-planar Te nets which determine the relevant parts of the
electronic structure. (Right) The resulting Fermi surface seen in projection
down the b*-axis.
The resulting phase diagram, shown below as a function of the RTe3
in-plane lattice parameter a, is quite remarkable. Despite the almost 4-fold
symmetry of the crystal structure and Fermi surface, a simple unidirectional
('stripe') CDW along c is stable across the entire rare earth series. However,
for the heaviest members of the series (R = Dy - Tm), a second CDW is
stabilized with a wave vector transverse to the first — a novel state
with a 'rectangular' symmetry. This discovery [1] was surmised from the
resistivity measurements in Fisher's lab and verified with high-resolution
diffraction at SSRL beam line 7-2. "It is really the high quality of the
RTe3 crystals that allow diffraction measurements" says Condron.
Fig 2. Phase diagram of the rare earth tritellurides, determined from a
combination of diffraction and resistivity measurements, as a function of
lattice parameter (top axis labels the rare earth). Inset shows a single
crystal of GdTe3 over a mm scale.
What else can be learnt from this remarkable behavior? Questions that the team
is already investigating include the symmetry of CDW fluctuations above
Tc
(where there is still some remnant short range order), and the effect of
disorder (dialed in by astute alloying on the rare earth site) on the symmetry
of the CDW. More generally, the rare earth tritellurides are just one member of
broader family of layered rare earth tellurides. Initial experiments at SSRL on
closely related members of this family indicate that other surprises are
waiting to be discovered. Furthermore, these materials provide a simple model
of more complex materials that exhibit "charge ordering" phenomena, including
high-temperature superconductors.
Primary Citation
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SSRL is supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. The SSRL Structural Molecular Biology Program is supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, and by the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources, Biomedical Technology Program, and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. |
Last Updated: | 23 February 2008 |
Content Owner: | N. Ru & I. Fisher |
Page Editor: | L. Dunn |