Thermodynamic and critical properties of the charge density wave system ErTe3

Michel Saint-Paul (1) , Gyorgy Remenyi (1) , Christophe Guttin (2) , Pascal Lejay (3) , Pierre Monceau (1)

1 NEEL - MagSup - Magnétisme et Supraconductivité
2 NEEL - ElecLab - Electronique
3 NEEL - C2MA - Croissance Cristalline et MicroAnalyse

We present specific heat and ultrasonic measurements on the rare earth tritelluride ErTe3 compound. Thermodynamic anomalies are observed at the upper charge density wave (CDW) phase transition TCDW1=265 K and the second one at TCDW2=155 K. Similar critical behaviors are found at both CDW phase transitions and that we tentatively described in terms of the 3D XY model. Different anisotropic stress dependences dTCDW1/dpi and dTCDW2/dpi are found at the two successive CDW phase transitions. Magnitude of the elastic constant anomalies at TCDW2 is ten times smaller than that at TCDW1. Anomalies in the elastic constants at the upper CDW TCDW1 exhibit two dimensional features in the layer planes while in contrast a three dimensional behavior is observed at TCDW2.

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Michel Saint-Paul, Gyorgy Remenyi, Christophe Guttin, Pascal Lejay, Pierre Monceau. Thermodynamic and critical properties of the charge density wave system ErTe3. Physica B: Condensed Matter, 2016, 504, pp.39-46. ⟨10.1016/j.physb.2016.10.009⟩. ⟨hal-01446106⟩