Photoemission study of the electronic structure and charge density waves of Na2Ti2Sb2O

Investigation into Structural Phase Transitions in Layered Titanium-Oxypnictides by a Computational Phonon Analysis

We applied ab initio phonon analysis to layered titanium-oxypnictides, Na₂Ti₂Pn₂O (Pn = As and Sb), and found a clear contrast between the cases with lighter/heavier pnictogen in comparison with experiments. The result completely explains the experimental structure at low temperature, C2/m for Pn = As, within the conventional charge density wave, while there arise discrepancies when the pnictogen gets heavier. Our phonon calculation using the GGA-PBE functional predicts that a Cmce polymorph is more stable than the experimentally observed one (Cmcm) for Pn = Sb. On the basis of further quantitative analysis, we suggest the possibility that the GGA-PBE functional does not properly reproduce the electron correlation effects for Pn = Sb, and this could be the reason for the present discrepancy.

Electronic and atomic structures of the Sr3Ir4Sn13 single crystal: A possible charge density wave material

X-ray scattering (XRS), x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopic techniques were used to study the electronic and atomic structures of the high-quality Sr₃Ir₄Sn₁₃ (SIS) single crystal below and above the transition temperature (T^* ≈ 147 K). The evolution of a series of modulated satellite peaks below the transition temperature in the XRS experiment indicated the formation of a possible charge density wave (CDW) in the (110) plane. The EXAFS phase derivative analysis supports the CDW-like formation by revealing different bond distances [Sn₁₍₂₎-Sn₂] below and above T^* in the (110) plane. XANES spectra at the Ir L₃-edge and Sn K-edge demonstrated an increase (decrease) in the unoccupied (occupied) density of Ir 5d-derived states and a nearly constant density of Sn 5p-derived states at temperatures T < T^* in the (110) plane. These observations clearly suggest that the Ir 5d-derived states are closely related to the anomalous resistivity transition. Accordingly, a close relationship exists between local electronic and atomic structures and the CDW-like phase in the SIS single crystal.