Optical signatures of phase transitions and structural modulation in elemental tellurium under pressure

Diego Rodriguez, Alexander A. Tsirlin, Tobias Biesner, Teppei Ueno, Takeshi Takahashi, Kaya Kobayashi, Martin Dressel, Ece Uykur

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A room-temperature infrared spectroscopy study of elemental tellurium at pressures up to 8.44 GPa in the energy range 0.015-2 eV is reported. Optical signatures of the high-pressure polymorphs are investigated and compared to the results of density-functional band-structure calculations. A Drude peak is first seen in the optical conductivity around 3.5 GPa indicating a semiconductor-to-metal transition within trigonal Te-I. A sharp increase in the Drude spectral weight and dc conductivity around 4.3 GPa signals the transformation toward the triclinic Te-II polymorph. An absorption peak around 0.15 eV appears above 5 GPa concomitant with the gradual transformation of Te-II into the structurally similar but incommensurately modulated Te-III. Microscopically, this peak can only be reproduced within a sufficiently large commensurate approximant, suggesting the low-energy optical response as a fingerprint of the structural modulation.

Original languageEnglish
Article number174104
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume101
Issue number17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 1 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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