Absence of local fluctuating dimers in superconducting Ir 1 -x (Pt ,Rh ) x Te 2

The compound IrTe2 is known to exhibit a transition to a modulated state featuring Ir-Ir dimers, with large associated atomic displacements. Partial substitution of Pt or Rh for Ir destabilizes the modulated structure and induces superconductivity. It has been proposed that quantum critical dimer fluctuations might be associated with the superconductivity. Here we test for such local dimer correlations and demonstrate their absence. X-ray pair distribution function approach reveals that the local structure of Ir0.95Pt0.05Te2 and Ir0.8Rh0.2Te2 dichalcogenide superconductors with compositions just past the dimer/superconductor boundary is explained well by a dimer-free model down to 10 K, ruling out the possibility of there being nanoscale dimer fluctuations in this regime. This is inconsistent with the proposed quantum-critical-point-like interplay of the dimer state and

[1]  M. Norman,et al.  The Challenge of Unconventional Superconductivity , 2011, Science.

[2]  L. Maugeri,et al.  Local structural displacements across the structural phase transition in IrTe 2: Order-disorder of dimers and role of Ir-Te correlations , 2013 .

[3]  A. Damascelli,et al.  Charge Order Driven by Fermi-Arc Instability in Bi2Sr2−xLaxCuO6+δ , 2013, Science.

[4]  E. Hockings,et al.  THE SYSTEM IRIDIUM—TELLURIUM , 1960 .

[5]  Hideaki Takano,et al.  Resistance and Susceptibility Anomalies in IrTe2 and CuIr2Te4 , 1999 .

[6]  Simon J. L. Billinge,et al.  Underneath the Bragg Peaks: Structural Analysis of Complex Materials , 2003 .

[7]  R. Cava,et al.  Superconductivity in CuxTiSe2 , 2006, cond-mat/0606529.

[8]  Simon J. L. Billinge,et al.  PDFgetX3: a rapid and highly automatable program for processing powder diffraction data into total scattering pair distribution functions , 2012, 1211.7126.

[9]  P. Juhás,et al.  Cu(Ir1 − xCrx)2S4: a model system for studying nanoscale phase coexistence at the metal-insulator transition , 2014, Scientific Reports.

[10]  R. Cava,et al.  Quantum and classical mode softening near the charge-density-wave-superconductor transition of CuxTiSe2. , 2007, Physical review letters.

[11]  David J. Singh,et al.  Origin of the phase transition in IrTe2: structural modulation and local bonding instability , 2013, 1302.5369.

[12]  S. Billinge.  Nanoscale structural order from the atomic pair distribution function (PDF): There's plenty of room in the middle , 2008 .

[13]  Charge density wave, superconductivity, and anomalous metallic behavior in 2D transition metal dichalcogenides. , 2000, cond-mat/0012147.

[14]  O. Ivashko,et al.  Charge-Stripe Order and Superconductivity in Ir1−xPtxTe2 , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[15]  Naoto Nagaosa,et al.  Doping a Mott insulator: Physics of high-temperature superconductivity , 2004, cond-mat/0410445.

[16]  H. Eisaki,et al.  Interplay of electron–lattice interactions and superconductivity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ , 2006, Nature.

[17]  Fermi surface reconstruction and multiple quantum phase transitions in the antiferromagnet CeRhIn5 , 2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[18]  Simon J L Billinge,et al.  The Problem with Determining Atomic Structure at the Nanoscale , 2007, Science.

[19]  Masao Kobori,et al.  Switching of conducting planes by partial dimer formation in IrTe 2 , 2014 .

[20]  S. Cheong,et al.  Formation of isomorphic Ir3+ and Ir4+ octamers and spin dimerization in the spinel CuIr2S4 , 2002, Nature.

[21]  L. Forró,et al.  Pressure induced superconductivity in pristine 1T-TiSe2. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[22]  Aharon Kapitulnik,et al.  How to detect fluctuating order in the high-temperature superconductors , 2002, cond-mat/0210683.

[23]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[24]  H. Lei,et al.  Probing IrTe2 Crystal Symmetry by Polarized Raman Scattering , 2014, 1609.05532.

[25]  K. Kudo,et al.  Superconductivity Induced by Bond Breaking in the Triangular Lattice of IrTe2 , 2012, 1204.1421.

[26]  A. P. Hammersley,et al.  Two-dimensional detector software: From real detector to idealised image or two-theta scan , 1996 .

[27]  R. D. Shannon.  Revised effective ionic radii and systematic studies of interatomic distances in halides and chalcogenides , 1976 .

[28]  Jixia Dai,et al.  Hierarchical stripe phases in IrT e 2 driven by competition between Ir dimerization and Te bonding , 2014 .

[29]  Yu-heng Zhang,et al.  Superconductivity and Charge Density Wave in ZrTe3−xSex , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[30]  Minoru Nohara,et al.  Suppression of Structural Phase Transition in IrTe2 by Isovalent Rh Doping , 2013, 1307.4152.

[31]  S J L Billinge,et al.  PDFfit2 and PDFgui: computer programs for studying nanostructure in crystals , 2007, Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal.

[32]  D. A. Bonn,et al.  Direct observation of competition between superconductivity and charge density wave order in YBa2Cu3O6.67 , 2012 .

[33]  Understanding the insulating phase in colossal magnetoresistance manganites: shortening of the Jahn-Teller long-bond across the phase diagram of La1-xCaxMnO3. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[34]  D. Khomskii,et al.  Orbitally induced Peierls state in spinels. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[35]  D. Basov,et al.  Manifesto for a higher T c , 2011 .

[36]  T. Mizokawa,et al.  Pressure dependence of the local structure of iridium ditelluride across the structural phase transition , 2016 .

[37]  J. Hanson,et al.  Rapid acquisition pair distribution function (RA-PDF) analysis. , 2003, cond-mat/0304638.

[38]  S. Cheong,et al.  Origin of first-order-type electronic and structural transitions in IrTe2. , 2015, Physical review letters.

[39]  G. Kotliar,et al.  Superconducting order from disorder in 2H-TaSe2−xSx , 2017 .

[40]  A. Lee,et al.  Signatures of the topological s+− superconducting order parameter in the type-II Weyl semimetal Td-MoTe2 , 2017, Nature Communications.

[41]  S. Cheong,et al.  Charge-orbital density wave and superconductivity in the strong spin-orbit coupled IrTe2:Pd. , 2012, Physical review letters.

[42]  J. S. Kim,et al.  Charge-ordering cascade with spin–orbit Mott dimer states in metallic iridium ditelluride , 2015, Nature Communications.

[43]  S. Cheong,et al.  Anionic depolymerization transition in IrTe2. , 2013, Physical review letters.