Strongly coupled charge, orbital, and spin order in TbTe3

Abstract

We report a ground state with strongly coupled magnetic and charge density wave orders mediated via orbital ordering in the layered compound TbTe3. In addition to the commensurate antiferromagnetic (AFM) and charge density wave (CDW) orders, new magnetic peaks are observed whose propagation vector equals the sum of the AFM and CDW propagation vectors, revealing an intricate and highly entwined relationship. This is especially interesting given that the magnetic and charge orders lie in different layers of the crystal structure where the highly localized magnetic moments of the Tb3+ ions are netted in the Tb-Te stacks, while the charge order is formed by the conduction electrons of the adjacent Te-Te layers. Our results, based on neutron diffraction and resonant x-ray scattering, reveal that the charge and magnetic subsystems mutually influence each other via the orbital ordering of Tb3+ ions. © 2020 American Physical Society.