No Arabic abstract
The two charge-density wave (CDW) transitions in NbSe$_3$ %at wave numbers at $bm{q_1}$ and $bm{q_2}$, occurring at the surface were investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on emph{in situ} cleaved $(bm{b},bm{c})$ plane. The temperature dependence of first-order CDW satellite spots, obtained from the Fourier transform of the STM images, was measured between 5-140 K to extract the surface critical temperatures (T$_s$). The low T CDW transition occurs at T$_{2s}$=70-75 K, more than 15 K above the bulk T$_{2b}=59$K while at exactly the same wave number. %determined by x-ray diffraction experiments. Plausible mechanism for such an unusually high surface enhancement is a softening of transverse phonon modes involved in the CDW formation.% The large interval of the 2D regime allows to speculate on % %the special Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type of the surface transition expected for this incommensurate CDW. This scenario is checked by extracting the temperature dependence of the order % %parameter correlation functions. The regime of 2D fluctuations is analyzed according to a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type of surface transition, expected for this incommensurate 2D CDW, by extracting the temperature dependence of the order parameter correlation functions.
Contradictory experiments have been reported about the dimensionality effect on the charge-density-wave transition in 2H NbSe$_2$. While scanning tunnelling experiments on single layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy measure a charge-density-wave transition temperature in the monolayer similar to the bulk, around 33 K, Raman experiments on exfoliated samples observe a large enhancement of the transition temperature up to 145 K. By employing a non-perturbative approach to deal with anharmonicity, we calculate from first principles the temperature dependence of the phonon spectra both for bulk and monolayer. In both cases, the charge-density-wave transition temperature is estimated as the temperature at which the phonon energy of the mode driving the structural instability vanishes. The obtained transition temperature in the bulk is around 59 K, in rather good agreement with experiments, and it is just slightly increased in the single-layer limit to 73 K, showing the weak dependence of the transition on dimensionality. Environmental factors could motivate the disagreement between the transition temperatures reported by experiments. Our analysis also demonstrates the predominance of ionic fluctuations over electronic ones in the melting of the charge-density-wave order.
The quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) TaSe3 attracts considerable attention for its intriguing superconductivity and possible interplay with nontrivial topology and charge density wave (CDW) state. However, unlike the isostructural analogues, CDW has not been observed for TaSe3 despite its quasi-1D character that is supposed to promote Peierls instabilities and CDW. Here we synthesize TaSe3 mesowires (MWs) using a one-step approach. For the MW of ~300 nm thick, a distinct CDW transition occurs at 65 K in the resistivity measurement, which has not been reported before and is further evidenced by the Raman characterization and susceptibility measurement. For comparison, we have also prepared bulk single crystal TaSe3. Although no anomaly appears in the resistivity and magnetoresistance measurements, the carrier type detected by Hall effect varies from n-type to p-type below 50 K, suggesting a reconstruction of Fermi surface that could be associated with CDW. The enhancement of CDW in the MWs is attributed to the reduced dimensionality. TaSe3 is demonstrated to be a promising platform to study the correlation and competition of CDW and superconductivity in the quasi-1D systems.
Bulk electrical dissipation caused by charge-density-wave (CDW) depinning and sliding is a classic subject. We present a novel local, nanoscale mechanism describing the occurrence of mechanical dissipation peaks in the dynamics of an atomic force microscope tip oscillating above the surface of a CDW material. Local surface 2$pi$ slips of the CDW phase are predicted to take place giving rise to mechanical hysteresis and large dissipation at discrete tip surface distances. The results of our static and dynamic numerical simulations are believed to be relevant to recent experiments on NbSe$_2$; other candidate systems in which similar effects should be observable are also discussed.
Bulk electrical dissipation caused by charge-density-wave (CDW) depinning and sliding is a classic subject. We present a novel local, nanoscale mechanism describing the occurrence of mechanical dissipation peaks in the dynamics of an atomic force microscope tip oscillating above the surface of a CDW material. Local surface 2$pi$ slips of the CDW phase are predicted to take place giving rise to mechanical hysteresis and large dissipation at discrete tip surface distances. The results of our static and dynamic numerical simulations are believed to be relevant to recent experiments on NbSe$_2$; other candidate systems in which similar effects should be observable are also discussed.
Despite being usually considered two competing phenomena, charge-density-wave and superconductivity coexist in few systems, the most emblematic one being the transition metal dichalcogenide 2H-NbSe$_2$. This unusual condition is responsible for specific Raman signatures across the two phase transitions in this compound. While the appearance of a soft phonon mode is a well-established fingerprint of the charge-density-wave order, the nature of the sharp sub-gap mode emerging below the superconducting temperature is still under debate. In this work we use the external pressure as a knob to unveil the delicate interplay between the two orders, and consequently the nature of the superconducting mode. Thanks to an advanced extreme-conditions Raman technique we are able to follow the pressure evolution and the simultaneous collapse of the two intertwined charge density wave and superconducting modes. The comparison with microscopic calculations in a model system supports the Higgs-type nature of the superconducting mode and suggests that charge-density-wave and superconductivity in 2H-NbSe$_2$ involve mutual electronic degrees of freedom. These findings fill knowledge gap on the electronic mechanisms at play in transition metal dichalcogenides, a crucial step to fully exploit their properties in few-layers systems optimized for devices applications.