DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1211387110. Quantum phase transition from triangular to stripe charge order in NbSe <sub>2</sub>

Quantum phase transition from triangular to stripe charge order in NbSe 2

10.1073/pnas.1211387110

Crossref journal-article

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (341)

Abstract

The competition between proximate electronic phases produces a complex phenomenology in strongly correlated systems. In particular, fluctuations associated with periodic charge or spin modulations, known as density waves, may lead to exotic superconductivity in several correlated materials. However, density waves have been difficult to isolate in the presence of chemical disorder, and the suspected causal link between competing density wave orders and high-temperature superconductivity is not understood. Here we used scanning tunneling microscopy to image a previously unknown unidirectional (stripe) charge-density wave (CDW) smoothly interfacing with the familiar tridirectional (triangular) CDW on the surface of the stoichiometric superconductor NbSe 2 . Our low-temperature measurements rule out thermal fluctuations and point to local strain as the tuning parameter for this quantum phase transition. We use this quantum interface to resolve two longstanding debates about the anomalous spectroscopic gap and the role of Fermi surface nesting in the CDW phase of NbSe 2 . Our results highlight the importance of local strain in governing phase transitions and competing phenomena, and suggest a promising direction of inquiry for resolving similarly longstanding debates in cuprate superconductors and other strongly correlated materials.

Bibliography

Soumyanarayanan, A., Yee, M. M., He, Y., van Wezel, J., Rahn, D. J., Rossnagel, K., Hudson, E. W., Norman, M. R., & Hoffman, J. E. (2013). Quantum phase transition from triangular to stripe charge order in NbSe 2. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(5), 1623â1627.

Authors 9

Anjan Soumyanarayanan (first)
Michael M. Yee (additional)
Yang He (additional)
Jasper van Wezel (additional)
Dirk J. Rahn (additional)
Kai Rossnagel (additional)
E. W. Hudson (additional)
Michael R. Norman (additional)
Jennifer E. Hoffman (additional)

References 38 Referenced 174

10.1126/science.288.5465.475
10.1080/00018730500459906
10.1080/00018732.2010.513480
10.1080/00018730110116362
10.1103/RevModPhys.75.1201
10.1103/PhysRevB.73.205102
10.1103/PhysRevLett.51.138
10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.117006
10.1038/nphys699
10.1073/pnas.1202434109
10.1103/PhysRevLett.34.734
10.1080/00018730110102718
10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.166402
A Mialitsin Raman scattering from layered superconductors: Effects of charge ordering two-band superconductivity and structural disorder. PhD thesis (Rutgers University New Brunswick NJ). (2010).
10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.107403
10.1103/PhysRevB.85.224532
10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.4504
10.1103/PhysRevB.64.235119
10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.086401
10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.226406
10.1016/0921-4526(91)90262-D
10.1103/PhysRevB.14.1496
10.1088/0953-8984/21/26/265005
10.1016/S0039-6028(97)00082-4
10.1103/PhysRevB.12.1187
10.1103/PhysRevB.76.174501
10.1103/PhysRevB.45.336
10.1103/PhysRevB.74.245126
10.1103/PhysRevB.77.035114
10.1073/pnas.0706795105
10.1126/science.1190482
10.1103/PhysRevB.74.134507
10.1103/PhysRevB.74.024520
10.1038/nphys1021
10.1038/nature09597
10.1126/science.1218648
10.1103/PhysRevB.85.024525
10.1088/0256-307X/29/3/037402

Dates

Type	When
Created	12 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 14, 2013, 11:55 p.m.)
Deposited	3 years, 4 months ago (April 16, 2022, 4:02 a.m.)
Indexed	1 week ago (Aug. 23, 2025, 9:53 p.m.)
Issued	12 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 14, 2013)
Published	12 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 14, 2013)
Published Online	12 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 14, 2013)
Published Print	12 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 29, 2013)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Soumyanarayanan_2013, title={Quantum phase transition from triangular to stripe charge order in NbSe 2}, volume={110}, ISSN={1091-6490}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1211387110}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.1211387110}, number={5}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, publisher={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Soumyanarayanan, Anjan and Yee, Michael M. and He, Yang and van Wezel, Jasper and Rahn, Dirk J. and Rossnagel, Kai and Hudson, E. W. and Norman, Michael R. and Hoffman, Jennifer E.}, year={2013}, month=jan, pages={1623–1627} }

JSON

{
  "indexed": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2025,
        8,
        24
      ]
    ],
    "date-time": "2025-08-24T01:53:25Z",
    "timestamp": 1756000405910
  },
  "reference-count": 38,
  "publisher": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences",
  "issue": "5",
  "content-domain": {
    "domain": [
      "www.pnas.org"
    ],
    "crossmark-restriction": true
  },
  "published-print": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2013,
        1,
        29
      ]
    ]
  },
  "abstract": "<jats:p>\n            The competition between proximate electronic phases produces a complex phenomenology in strongly correlated systems. In particular, fluctuations associated with periodic charge or spin modulations, known as density waves, may lead to exotic superconductivity in several correlated materials. However, density waves have been difficult to isolate in the presence of chemical disorder, and the suspected causal link between competing density wave orders and high-temperature superconductivity is not understood. Here we used scanning tunneling microscopy to image a previously unknown unidirectional (stripe) charge-density wave (CDW) smoothly interfacing with the familiar tridirectional (triangular) CDW on the surface of the stoichiometric superconductor NbSe\n            <jats:sub>2</jats:sub>\n            . Our low-temperature measurements rule out thermal fluctuations and point to local strain as the tuning parameter for this quantum phase transition. We use this quantum interface to resolve two longstanding debates about the anomalous spectroscopic gap and the role of Fermi surface nesting in the CDW phase of NbSe\n            <jats:sub>2</jats:sub>\n            . Our results highlight the importance of local strain in governing phase transitions and competing phenomena, and suggest a promising direction of inquiry for resolving similarly longstanding debates in cuprate superconductors and other strongly correlated materials.\n          </jats:p>",
  "DOI": "10.1073/pnas.1211387110",
  "type": "journal-article",
  "created": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2013,
        1,
        15
      ]
    ],
    "date-time": "2013-01-15T04:55:05Z",
    "timestamp": 1358225705000
  },
  "page": "1623-1627",
  "update-policy": "http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.cm10313",
  "source": "Crossref",
  "is-referenced-by-count": 174,
  "title": "Quantum phase transition from triangular to stripe charge order in NbSe\n            <sub>2</sub>",
  "prefix": "10.1073",
  "volume": "110",
  "author": [
    {
      "given": "Anjan",
      "family": "Soumyanarayanan",
      "sequence": "first",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;"
        },
        {
          "name": "Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139;"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "Michael M.",
      "family": "Yee",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "Yang",
      "family": "He",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "Jasper",
      "family": "van Wezel",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439;"
        },
        {
          "name": "H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL, United Kingdom;"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "Dirk J.",
      "family": "Rahn",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Kiel, 24098 Kiel, Germany; and"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "Kai",
      "family": "Rossnagel",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Kiel, 24098 Kiel, Germany; and"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "E. W.",
      "family": "Hudson",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "Michael R.",
      "family": "Norman",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439;"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "Jennifer E.",
      "family": "Hoffman",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "member": "341",
  "published-online": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2013,
        1,
        14
      ]
    ]
  },
  "reference": [
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_1_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1126/science.288.5465.475"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_2_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1080/00018730500459906"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_3_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1080/00018732.2010.513480"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_4_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1080/00018730110116362"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_5_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/RevModPhys.75.1201"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_6_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.73.205102"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_7_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.51.138"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_8_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.117006"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_9_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1038/nphys699"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_10_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1073/pnas.1202434109"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_11_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.34.734"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_12_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1080/00018730110102718"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_13_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.166402"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_14_2",
      "unstructured": "A Mialitsin Raman scattering from layered superconductors: Effects of charge ordering two-band superconductivity and structural disorder. PhD thesis (Rutgers University New Brunswick NJ). (2010)."
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_15_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.107403"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_16_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.85.224532"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_17_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.4504"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_18_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.64.235119"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_19_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.086401"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_20_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.226406"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_21_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/0921-4526(91)90262-D"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_22_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.14.1496"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_23_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1088/0953-8984/21/26/265005"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_24_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/S0039-6028(97)00082-4"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_25_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.12.1187"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_26_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.76.174501"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_27_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.45.336"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_28_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.74.245126"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_29_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.77.035114"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_30_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1073/pnas.0706795105"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_31_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1126/science.1190482"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_32_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.74.134507"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_33_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.74.024520"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_34_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1038/nphys1021"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_35_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1038/nature09597"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_36_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1126/science.1218648"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_37_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevB.85.024525"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_3_38_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1088/0256-307X/29/3/037402"
    }
  ],
  "container-title": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences",
  "original-title": [],
  "language": "en",
  "link": [
    {
      "URL": "https://pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1211387110",
      "content-type": "unspecified",
      "content-version": "vor",
      "intended-application": "similarity-checking"
    }
  ],
  "deposited": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2022,
        4,
        16
      ]
    ],
    "date-time": "2022-04-16T08:02:15Z",
    "timestamp": 1650096135000
  },
  "score": 1,
  "resource": {
    "primary": {
      "URL": "https://pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1211387110"
    }
  },
  "subtitle": [],
  "short-title": [],
  "issued": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2013,
        1,
        14
      ]
    ]
  },
  "references-count": 38,
  "journal-issue": {
    "issue": "5",
    "published-print": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2013,
          1,
          29
        ]
      ]
    }
  },
  "alternative-id": [
    "10.1073/pnas.1211387110"
  ],
  "URL": "http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1211387110",
  "relation": {},
  "ISSN": [
    "0027-8424",
    "1091-6490"
  ],
  "subject": [],
  "container-title-short": "Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.",
  "published": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2013,
        1,
        14
      ]
    ]
  },
  "assertion": [
    {
      "value": "2013-01-14",
      "order": 2,
      "name": "published",
      "label": "Published",
      "group": {
        "name": "publication_history",
        "label": "Publication History"
      }
    }
  ]
}