Revealing the Nature of the Charge Density Wave Order of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>ErTe</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>3</mn></mrow></msub></mrow></math> via Raman Scattering under Anisotropic Strain

Théotime Freitas; Mattia Udina; Alexandr Alekhin; Niloufar Nilforoushan; Sarah Houver; Alain Sacuto; Benito A. Gonzalez; Ian R. Fisher; Indranil Paul; Yann Gallais

doi:10.1103/2ypb-byqq

Revealing the Nature of the Charge Density Wave Order of ${ErTe}_{3}$ via Raman Scattering under Anisotropic Strain

Théotime Freitas^1,*, Mattia Udina ^1,2,†, Alexandr Alekhin ¹, Niloufar Nilforoushan ¹, Sarah Houver ¹, Alain Sacuto ¹, Benito A. Gonzalez^3,4,5, Ian R. Fisher ^3,4,5, Indranil Paul ^1,‡ et al.

Yann Gallais ^1,6,§

¹Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques, Paris, 75013, France
²Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (UMR 7504), Université de Strasbourg and CNRS, Strasbourg, 67200, France
³Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
⁴Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
⁵Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
⁶Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, 75231, France

^*Contact author: theotime.freitas@u-paris.fr
^†Contact author: mattia.udina@mpsd.mpg.de
^‡Contact author: indranil.paul@u-paris.fr
^§Contact author: yann.gallais@u-paris.fr

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 166502 – Published 14 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/2ypb-byqq

Abstract

The nature of the charge density wave (CDW) order of the rare-earth tritelluride ${ErTe}_{3}$ is investigated by Raman scattering under anisotropic strain. The CDW state of ${ErTe}_{3}$ is unconventional since it is accompanied by an unusual mirror symmetry breaking, whose origin remains to be understood. Studying the polarization-resolved Raman spectrum of the CDW amplitude mode as a function of strain and temperature, we find that the mirror symmetry breakings of the CDW state are not independent, arguing against the recently proposed ferroaxial multicomponent CDW order. Instead, we show that a single component CDW order parameter with an ordering wave vector tilted away from the principle crystallographic axis can reproduce the observed mirror symmetry breakings and their manifestation in the Raman spectra.

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Revealing the Nature of the Charge Density Wave Order of ${ErTe}_{3}$ via Raman Scattering under Anisotropic Strain

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Revealing the Nature of the Charge Density Wave Order of ErTe3 via Raman Scattering under Anisotropic Strain

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Revealing the Nature of the Charge Density Wave Order of ${ErTe}_{3}$ via Raman Scattering under Anisotropic Strain