Strain-tuning charge density wave order in rare earth tritellurides
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This work focuses on the study of one type of exotic electronic order, the charge density wave (CDW) phase, in response to strain tuning. To perform this study, the rare-earth tritelluride (RTe3, R= Y, La-Nd, Sm, Gd-Tm) crystal family are utilized as a model system. This material possesses a very simplified phase diagram, an ideal structure to explore the CDW phase, specifically unidirectional CDW states on a nearly square lattice, and lastly, these CDW states are highly tunable. Using both x-ray and transport techniques, high-precision measurements of the CDW state in RTe3 crystals under strain are conducted. These measurements demonstrate that the primary CDW order in the material can be reoriented with the application of anisotropic strain presenting one of the first direct observations of such a strain tunable CDW state. Moreover, these measurements reveal a bicritical point in the temperature-strain phase diagram where the phase transitions of the two distinct CDW states in the material are tuned to coincide. Finally, at this bicritical point, signatures in elastoresistivity measurements indicate the emergence of a tetragonal symmetry in this fundamentally orthorhombic material, demonstrating the ability of strain to modify the symmetry of a material. In the remainder of this thesis, I explore this strain-tuned phenomenology along other tuning axes and with other experimental probes. The effect of disorder is explored in this material with strain by studying palladium intercalated erbium tritelluride (PdxErTe3), providing a novel perspective on how disorder reduces the electronic orthorhombicity of the system. Additionally, a complementary strain study of a competing secondary CDW state in the material is presented. Finally, the material is also studied with inelastic x-ray scattering to explore how the phonon structure evolves with strain, providing additional information about the nature of the CDW states.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2023; ©2023 |
| Publication date | 2023; 2023 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Singh, Anisha Gurcharn |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Fisher, Ian R. (Ian Randal) |
| Thesis advisor | Fisher, Ian R. (Ian Randal) |
| Thesis advisor | Hwang, Harold Yoonsung, 1970- |
| Thesis advisor | Kivelson, Steven |
| Degree committee member | Hwang, Harold Yoonsung, 1970- |
| Degree committee member | Kivelson, Steven |
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Humanities and Sciences |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Applied Physics |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Anisha G. Singh. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Applied Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/kd339mm9275 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2023 by Anisha Gurcharn Singh
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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