Pressure-induced spin-Peierls to incommensurate charge-density-wave transition in the ground state of TiOCl
The ground state of the spin-Peierls system TiOCl was probed using synchrotron x-ray diffraction on a single-crystal sample at T=6 K. We tracked the evolution of the structural superlattice peaks associated with the dimerized ground state as a function of pressure. The dimerization along the b axis...
Main Authors: | , , , |
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Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
American Physical Society,
2010-09-28T18:26:07Z.
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | Get fulltext |
Summary: | The ground state of the spin-Peierls system TiOCl was probed using synchrotron x-ray diffraction on a single-crystal sample at T=6 K. We tracked the evolution of the structural superlattice peaks associated with the dimerized ground state as a function of pressure. The dimerization along the b axis is rapidly suppressed in the vicinity of a first-order structural phase transition at P[subscript C]=13.1(1) GPa. The high-pressure phase is characterized by an incommensurate charge-density wave perpendicular to the original spin-chain direction. These results show that the electronic ground state undergoes a fundamental change in symmetry, indicating a significant change in the principal interactions. United States. Dept. of Energy (DE-FG02-07ER46134) United States. Dept. of Energy (Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357) National Science Foundation (Agreement No. DMR-0454672) |
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