Charge density waves (CDW) are long periodic rearrangement of electronic structure, that are typically coupled with distortions of the underlying crystal lattices, and the driving mechanism of which can vary from one material to another. Here, the authors use density functional theory to investigate the origin of CDW in SrAl4 and EuAl4, finding that strong electron-coupling plays an important role, which also explains the absence of CDW in BaAl4.
- Lin-Lin Wang
- Niraj K. Nepal
- Paul C. Canfield