Effect of the charge-density-wave transition on the thermal expansion of 2H-TaSe2, NbSe3, and o-TaS3

Contrast and Raman spectroscopy study of single- and few-layered charge density wave material: 2H-TaSe₂

In this article, we report the first successful preparation of single- and few-layers of tantalum diselenide (2H-TaSe₂) by mechanical exfoliation technique. Number of layers is confirmed by white light contrast spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Vibrational properties of the atomically thin layers of 2H-TaSe₂ are characterized by micro-Raman spectroscopy. Room temperature Raman measurements demonstrate MoS₂-like spectral features, which are reliable for thickness determination. E₁g mode, usually forbidden in backscattering Raman configuration is observed in the supported TaSe₂ layers while disappears in the suspended layers, suggesting that this mode may be enabled because of the symmetry breaking induced by the interaction with the substrate. A systematic in-situ low temperature Raman study, for the first time, reveals the existence of incommensurate charge density wave phase transition in single and double-layered 2H-TaSe₂ as reflected by a sudden softening of the second-order broad Raman mode resulted from the strong electron-phonon coupling (Kohn anomaly).

Coupling of the lattice and superlattice deformations and hysteresis in thermal expansion for the quasi-one-dimensional conductor TaS3

An original interferometer-based setup for measurements of length of needlelike samples is developed, and thermal expansion of o-TaS(3) crystals is studied. Below the Peierls transition the temperature hysteresis of length L is observed, the width of the hysteresis loop deltaL/L being up to 5 x 10(-5). The behavior of the loop is anomalous: the length changes so that it is in front of its equilibrium value. The hysteresis loop couples with that of conductivity. With lowering the temperature down to 100 K the charge-density waves' elastic modulus grows achieving a value comparable with the lattice Young modulus. Our results could be helpful in consideration of different systems with intrinsic superstructures.