Bond-Order and the Role of Ligand States in Stripe-Modulated IrTe2

Abstract

The coupled electronic-structural modulations of the ligand states in IrTe${}_2$ have been studied by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and resonant elastic x-ray scattering (REXS). Distinctive pre-edge structures are observed at the Te-$M_{4,5}$ (3$d$ $\to$ 5$p$) absorption edge, indicating the presence of a Te 5$p$-Ir 5$d$ covalent state near the Fermi level. An enhancement of the REXS signal near the Te 3$d$ $\to$ 5$p$ resonance at the $Q=(1/5,0,-1/5)$ superlattice reflection is observed below the structural transition temperature $T_s\sim$ 280 K. The analysis of the energy-dependent REXS lineshape reveals the key role played by the spatial modulation of the covalent Te 5$p$-Ir 5$d$ bond-density in driving the stripe-like order in IrTe${}_2$, and uncovers its coupling with the charge and/or orbital order at the Ir sites. The similarity between these findings and the charge-ordering phenomenology observed in the high-T${}_c$ superconducting cuprates suggests that the iridates may harbor similar exotic phases.

13 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Superconductivity Induced by Bond Breaking in the Triangular Lattice of IrTe2
• Anionic depolymerization transition in IrTe2
• Resonant elastic soft x-ray scattering in oxygen-ordered YBa_2Cu_3O_{6+delta}
• Competition between the structural phase transition and superconductivity in Ir${}_{1-x}$Pt${}_x$Te${}_2$ as revealed by pressure effects
• Resonant X-Ray Scattering Measurements of a Spatial Modulation of the Cu 3d and O 2p Energies in Stripe-Ordered Cuprate Superconductors

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