No Arabic abstract
At ambient pressure, bulk 2H-NbS$_2$ displays no charge density wave instability at odds with the isostructural and isoelectronic compounds 2H-NbSe$_2$, 2H-TaS$_2$ and 2H-TaSe$_2$, and in disagreement with harmonic calculations. Contradictory experimental results have been reported in supported single layers, as 1H-NbS$_2$ on Au(111) does not display a charge density wave, while 1H-NbS$_2$ on 6H-SiC(0001) endures a $3times 3$ reconstruction. Here, by carrying out quantum anharmonic calculations from first-principles, we evaluate the temperature dependence of phonon spectra in NbS$_2$ bulk and single layer as a function of pressure/strain. For bulk 2H-NbS$_2$, we find excellent agreement with inelastic X-ray spectra and demonstrate the removal of charge ordering due to anharmonicity. In the 2D limit, we find an enhanced tendency toward charge density wave order. Freestanding 1H-NbS$_2$ undergoes a $3times3$ reconstruction, in agreement with data on 6H-SiC(0001) supported samples. Moreover, as strains smaller than $0.5%$ in the lattice parameter are enough to completely remove the $3times3$ superstructure, deposition of 1H-NbS$_2$ on flexible substrates or a small charge transfer via field-effect could lead to devices with dynamical switching on/off of charge order.
The temperature dependence of the phonon spectrum in the superconducting transition metal dichalcogenide 2H-NbS$_2$ is measured by diffuse and inelastic x-ray scattering. A deep, wide and strongly temperature dependent softening, of the two lowest energy longitudinal phonons bands, appears along the $mathrm{Gamma M}$ symmetry line in reciprocal space. In sharp contrast to the iso-electronic compounds 2H-NbSe$_2$, the soft phonons energies are finite, even at very low temperature, and no charge density wave instability occurs, in disagreement with harmonic ab-initio calculations. We show that 2H-NbS$_2$ is at the verge of the charge density wave transition and its occurrence is only suppressed by the large anharmonic effects. Moreover, the anharmonicity and the electron phonon coupling both show a strong in-plane anisotropy.
The interaction of many-body systems with intense light pulses may lead to novel emergent phenomena far from equilibrium. Recent discoveries, such as the optical enhancement of the critical temperature in certain superconductors and the photo-stabilization of hidden phases, have turned this field into an important research frontier. Here, we demonstrate nonthermal charge-density-wave (CDW) order at electronic temperatures far greater than the thermodynamic transition temperature. Using time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and time-resolved X-ray diffraction, we investigate the electronic and structural order parameters of an ultrafast photoinduced CDW-to-metal transition. Tracking the dynamical CDW recovery as a function of electronic temperature reveals a behaviour markedly different from equilibrium, which we attribute to the suppression of lattice fluctuations in the transient nonthermal phonon distribution. A complete description of the systems coherent and incoherent order-parameter dynamics is given by a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau framework, providing access to the transient potential energy surfaces.
Most metallic transition metal dichalcogenides undergo charge density wave (CDW) instabilities with similar or identical ordering vectors in bulk and in single layer, albeit with different critical temperatures. Metallic 1T-TiTe$_2$ is a remarkable exception as it shows no evidence of charge density wave formation in bulk, but it displays a stable $2times2$ reconstruction in single-layer form. The mechanism for this 3D-2D crossover of the transition is still unclear, although strain from the substrate and the exchange interaction have been pointed out as possible formation mechanisms. Here, by performing non-perturbative anharmonic calculations with gradient corrected and hybrid functionals, we explain the thickness behaviour of the transition in 1T-TiTe$_2$. We demonstrate that the occurrence of the CDW in single-layer TiTe$_2$ occurs from the interplay of non-perturbative anharmonicity and an exchange enhancement of the electron-phonon interaction, larger in the single layer than in the bulk. Finally, we study the electronic and structural properties of the single-layer CDW phase and provide a complete description of its electronic structure, phonon dispersion as well as infrared and Raman active phonon modes.
We report experimental evidence of charge density wave (CDW) transition in monolayer 1T-VTe$_2$ film. 4$times$4 reconstruction peaks are observed by low energy electron diffraction below the transition temperature $T_{CDW}$ = 186 K. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements reveal arc-like pockets with anisotropic CDW gaps up to 50 meV. The anisotropic CDW gap is attributed to the imperfect nesting of the CDW wave vector, and first-principles calculations reveal phonon softening at the same vector, suggesting the important roles of Fermi surface nesting and electron-phonon interaction in the CDW mechanism.
A variety of experiments have been carried out to establish the origin of the chiral charge-density wave transition in 1T-TiSe$_2$, which in turn has led to contradictory conclusions on the origin of this transition. Some studies suggest the transition is a phonon-driven structural distortion while other studies suggest it is an excitonic insulator phase transition that is accompanied by a lattice distortion. First, we propose these interpretations can be reconciled if one analyzes the available experimental and theoretical data within a formal definition of what constitutes an excitonic insulator as initially proposed by Keldysh and Kopaev. Next, we present pump-probe measurements of circularly polarized optical transitions and first-principles calculations where we highlight the importance of accounting for structural distortions to explain the finite chirality of optical transitions in the CDW phase. We show that at the elevated electronic temperature that occurs upon photoexcitation, there is a non-centrosymmetric structure that is near-degenerate in energy with the centrosymmetric charge density wave structure, which explains the finite chirality of the optical transitions observed in the CDW phase of TiSe$_2$.