Enhancement of the Peierls-like phase transition in the Cu_1−xLi_xIr₂S₄ system

Lei Zhang^1a, Langsheng Ling¹, Zhe Qu¹, Changjin Zhang¹, Shun Tan² and Yuheng Zhang^1,2

¹ High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences - Hefei 230031, PRC
² High Magnetic Field Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China - Hefei 230026, PRC

^a zhanglei@hmfl.ac.cn

Received: 8 March 2011
Accepted: 30 March 2011

Abstract

In the spinel CuIr₂S₄ system, previous reports have shown that any chemical substitution would suppress or destroy the Peierls-like phase transition. Herein, we present our investigations on the Cu_1−xLi_xIr₂S₄ system, where the Peierls-like phase transition is enhanced by the doping of Li. To our knowledge, this is the first report that the phase transition is enhanced by chemical substitution. Through low-temperature X-ray diffraction study, we find that the lattice cell is distorted by the doping of Li, which favors the tetragonal structure in the low-temperature Peierls-like phase. We suggest that the lattice distortion caused by the Li-doping is responsible for the enhancement of the phase transition.