Interplay of Charge Density Wave States and Strain at the Surface of CeTe${}_2$

Abstract

We use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to study charge density wave (CDW) states in the rare-earth di-telluride, CeTe${}_2$. In contrast to previous experimental and first-principles studies of the rare-earth di-tellurides, our STM measurements surprisingly detect a unidirectional CDW with $\text{q}$ ~ 0.28 $\text{a}$*, which is very close to what is found in experimental measurements of the related rare-earth tri-tellurides. Furthermore, in the vicinity of an extended sub-surface defect, we find spatially-separated as well as spatially-coexisting unidirectional CDWs at the surface of CeTe${}_2$. We quantify the nanoscale strain and its variations induced by this defect, and establish a correlation between local lattice strain and the locally-established CDW states. Our measurements probe the fundamental properties of a weakly-bound two-dimensional Te-sheet, which experimental and theoretical work has previously established as the fundamental component driving much of the essential physics in both the rare-earth di- and tri-telluride compounds.