Incommensurate Transverse Peierls Transition and Signature of Chiral Charge Density Wave in EuAl4
In one-dimensional quantum materials, electrons and lattices can undergo a Peierls transition, a translational symmetry-breaking instability traditionally understood through electron coupling to longitudinal acoustic phonons. Recently, this paradigm has been revised in topological semimetals, where transverse acoustic phonons couple to p-orbital electrons, giving rise to a transverse Peierls transition. Importantly, transverse Peierls transition-induced distortions can further break mirror or inversion symmetries, producing nematic or chiral charge density waves. Here, we report the experimental identification of an incommensurate transverse Peierls transition in EuAl<sub>4</sub>. Using meV-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering, we observe complete softening of a transverse acoustic phonon upon cooling, while the longitudinal acoustic mode remains unaffected. First-principles calculations reveal that the transverse Peierls transition wavevector coincides with a charge susceptibility peak connecting nested Dirac bands. Second harmonic generation confirms mirror symmetry breaking, supporting a chiral charge density wave stabilized by the transverse Peierls transition.
Authors
- Ho Nyung Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2180-3975)
- Liuyan Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9512-3537)
- A. H. Said
- Rinkle Juneja (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6372-1524)
- Kaifa Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2572-020X)
- Hu Miao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8823-4690)
- William R. Meier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4060-5093)
- Andrew F. May (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0777-8539)
- Miaofang Chi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0764-1567)
- Xiaoyu Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2088-6112)
- P. M. Lozano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6602-4118)
- G. Fabbris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8278-4985)
- C. S. Nelson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0196-0340)
- Xi Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2396-0966)
- Haoyang Ni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4493-3032)
- Michael A. McGuire (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1762-9406)
- Haoxiang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8543-2598)
- Lucas Lindsay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9645-7993)
- Jian‐Min Zuo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5151-3370)
- Tiantian Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8591-2652)
- Weizhe Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6604-2228)
- Fazhi Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2788-9279)
Institutions
- Argonne National Laboratory (US)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK)
- Brookhaven National Laboratory (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Guangzhou University (CN)
- Guangzhou Institute of Advanced Technology (CN)
- Institute of Theoretical Physics (CN)
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-11-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65374-y
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- University of Michigan
- University of Texas at Austin
- Office of Science
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
- Division of Materials Research
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Brookhaven National Laboratory