Ferroaxial density wave from intertwined charge and orbital order in rare-earth tritellurides

The discovery of the axial amplitude mode—commonly referred to as the Higgs mode—in charge density wave systems, such as rare-earth tritellurides, indicates the presence of a hidden order. A theoretical study proposed that this axial Higgs mode arises from a hidden orbital texture of the charge density wave, which produces a ferroaxial charge order. However, experimental evidence for the specific hidden order has been lacking. Here, we demonstrate a ferroaxial order of electronic origin throughout the rare-earth tritellurides. In ErTe3 and HoTe3, which exhibit two distinct charge density waves with different ordering temperatures, a detailed investigation shows that the high-temperature charge order phase breaks translational, rotational and all vertical as well as diagonal mirror symmetries. Furthermore, this phase produces an axial Higgs mode and an axial electronic gap. By contrast, the low-temperature phase breaks only translational symmetry and gives rise to a scalar Higgs mode. Notably, both phases preserve the space inversion and time-reversal symmetries. These findings are consistent with a ferroaxial phase driven by coupled orbital and charge orders, highlighting the role of Higgs modes in revealing hidden orders in systems with intertwined charge density waves. The axial Higgs mode is theoretically attributed to a hidden ferroaxial component of charge order. In rare-earth tritellurides, this ferroaxial order is now shown to be induced by intertwined orbital and charge orders.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Physics
Published
2025-09-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-03008-2
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Organic and Molecular Conductors Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.28

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article

Ferroaxial density wave from intertwined charge and orbital order in rare-earth tritellurides

J. Judy, Grant McNamara, Saif Siddique, Liuyan Zhao et al.
3 citations
Nature Physics
Organic and Molecular Conductors Research
1.28
article

Ferroaxial density wave from intertwined charge and orbital order in rare-earth tritellurides

J. Judy, Grant McNamara, Saif Siddique, Liuyan Zhao, Michael Geiwitz, M. J. Graf, Eric Kenney, Leslie Mareike Schoop, Connor A. Occhialini, Kyung-Mo Kim, Ratnadwip Singha, Stephen D. Funni, Jennifer Cano, C. Baines, Hubertus Luetkens, С. Г. Алексеев, T. J. Hicken, Birender Singh, Yiping Wang, Vincent Plisson, Riccardo Comin, Rafael M. Fernandes, Sayed Ali Akbar Ghorashi, Kenneth S. Burch, Weizhe Zhang, Xiangpeng Luo, Piyush Sakrikar
article en
3 citations

Abstract

The discovery of the axial amplitude mode—commonly referred to as the Higgs mode—in charge density wave systems, such as rare-earth tritellurides, indicates the presence of a hidden order. A theoretical study proposed that this axial Higgs mode arises from a hidden orbital texture of the charge density wave, which produces a ferroaxial charge order. However, experimental evidence for the specific hidden order has been lacking. Here, we demonstrate a ferroaxial order of electronic origin throughout the rare-earth tritellurides. In ErTe3 and HoTe3, which exhibit two distinct charge density waves with different ordering temperatures, a detailed investigation shows that the high-temperature charge order phase breaks translational, rotational and all vertical as well as diagonal mirror symmetries. Furthermore, this phase produces an axial Higgs mode and an axial electronic gap. By contrast, the low-temperature phase breaks only translational symmetry and gives rise to a scalar Higgs mode. Notably, both phases preserve the space inversion and time-reversal symmetries. These findings are consistent with a ferroaxial phase driven by coupled orbital and charge orders, highlighting the role of Higgs modes in revealing hidden orders in systems with intertwined charge density waves. The axial Higgs mode is theoretically attributed to a hidden ferroaxial component of charge order. In rare-earth tritellurides, this ferroaxial order is now shown to be induced by intertwined orbital and charge orders.

Nature PhysicsVol. 21(10)
Boston College (US), University of Minnesota (US), Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IN), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), Princeton University (US), Cornell University (US), University of Michigan (US), Paul Scherrer Institute (CH), Flatiron Health (United States) (US), Flatiron Institute (US), Stony Brook University (US), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, University of Michigan, Flatiron Health, Paul Scherrer Institut, Office of Science, Cornell Center for Materials Research, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University, Kavli Institute at Cornell, Cornell University, Division of Materials Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Organic and Molecular Conductors Research
1.28
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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