Discovery of a Stripe Phase in an Elemental Solid

Maksim Litskevich; Md Shafayat Hossain; Yang Fu; Hu Miao; Yuxiao Jiang; Guangming Cheng; Pengcheng Chen; Qi Zhang; Zi Jia Cheng; Raul Acevedo-Esteves; Christie Nelson; Haozhe Wang; Jose L. Gonzalez Jimenez; Brian Casas; Xiaoxiong Liu; Stepan S. Tsirkin; Kouta Dagnino; Songbo Zhang; Chia Hsiu Hsu; Sen Shao; Shaogang Xu; Tyler A. Cochran; Xian P. Yang; Hu Xu; Jiaxin Yin; Yaroslav A. Gerasimenko; Weiwei Xie; Nan Yao; Luis Balicas; Guoqing Chang; Titus Neupert; Hechang Lei; M. Zahid Hasan

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c01695

Discovery of a Stripe Phase in an Elemental Solid

Maksim Litskevich
, Md Shafayat Hossain
, Yang Fu
, Hu Miao
, Yuxiao Jiang
, Guangming Cheng
, Pengcheng Chen
, Qi Zhang
, Zi Jia Cheng
, Raul Acevedo-Esteves
, Christie Nelson
, Haozhe Wang
, Jose L. Gonzalez Jimenez
, Brian Casas
, Xiaoxiong Liu
, Stepan S. Tsirkin
, Kouta Dagnino
, Songbo Zhang
, Chia Hsiu Hsu
, Sen Shao

Shaogang Xu, Tyler A. Cochran, Xian P. Yang, Hu Xu, Jiaxin Yin, Yaroslav A. Gerasimenko, Weiwei Xie, Nan Yao, Luis Balicas, Guoqing Chang, Titus Neupert, Hechang Lei, M. Zahid Hasan

Princeton University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Translational symmetry breaking is foundational to condensed matter physics because it is associated with crystal formation. At much lower energy scales, the breaking of crystalline translational symmetry can be driven by electronic, rather than ionic, degrees of freedom and may give rise to stripe order, a unidirectional ordered state. Such symmetry breaking has been seen in two-dimensional and strongly correlated systems. Here, for the first time, we report the observation of stripe order in an elemental solid, tellurium. Through topographic and spectroscopic imaging, we discover a commensurate 4 × 1 stripe phase. Surprisingly, this exotic order is so robust that it survives close to room temperature. Notably, our diffraction experiments confirm the bulk nature of the stripe order, showing the minuteness of potential lattice distortion associated with the order. Our discovery of the stripe order in tellurium opens new windows to understanding the spontaneous symmetry breaking in elemental solids.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	10386-10394
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nano Letters
Volume	25
Issue number	26
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c01695
State	Published - Jul 2 2025

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Bioengineering
General Chemistry
General Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics
Mechanical Engineering

Keywords

X-ray diffraction
charge order
chiral crystals
phase transitions
scanning tunneling microscopy
semiconductors

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10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c01695

Cite this

Litskevich, M., Hossain, M. S., Fu, Y., Miao, H., Jiang, Y., Cheng, G., Chen, P., Zhang, Q., Cheng, Z. J., Acevedo-Esteves, R., Nelson, C., Wang, H., Gonzalez Jimenez, J. L., Casas, B., Liu, X., Tsirkin, S. S., Dagnino, K., Zhang, S., Hsu, C. H., ... Hasan, M. Z. (2025). Discovery of a Stripe Phase in an Elemental Solid. Nano Letters, 25(26), 10386-10394. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c01695

@article{0cfe6e08f8be48e7941dda7906ef0cdd,

title = "Discovery of a Stripe Phase in an Elemental Solid",

abstract = "Translational symmetry breaking is foundational to condensed matter physics because it is associated with crystal formation. At much lower energy scales, the breaking of crystalline translational symmetry can be driven by electronic, rather than ionic, degrees of freedom and may give rise to stripe order, a unidirectional ordered state. Such symmetry breaking has been seen in two-dimensional and strongly correlated systems. Here, for the first time, we report the observation of stripe order in an elemental solid, tellurium. Through topographic and spectroscopic imaging, we discover a commensurate 4 × 1 stripe phase. Surprisingly, this exotic order is so robust that it survives close to room temperature. Notably, our diffraction experiments confirm the bulk nature of the stripe order, showing the minuteness of potential lattice distortion associated with the order. Our discovery of the stripe order in tellurium opens new windows to understanding the spontaneous symmetry breaking in elemental solids.",

keywords = "X-ray diffraction, charge order, chiral crystals, phase transitions, scanning tunneling microscopy, semiconductors",

author = "Maksim Litskevich and Hossain, \{Md Shafayat\} and Yang Fu and Hu Miao and Yuxiao Jiang and Guangming Cheng and Pengcheng Chen and Qi Zhang and Cheng, \{Zi Jia\} and Raul Acevedo-Esteves and Christie Nelson and Haozhe Wang and \{Gonzalez Jimenez\}, \{Jose L.\} and Brian Casas and Xiaoxiong Liu and Tsirkin, \{Stepan S.\} and Kouta Dagnino and Songbo Zhang and Hsu, \{Chia Hsiu\} and Sen Shao and Shaogang Xu and Cochran, \{Tyler A.\} and Yang, \{Xian P.\} and Hu Xu and Jiaxin Yin and Gerasimenko, \{Yaroslav A.\} and Weiwei Xie and Nan Yao and Luis Balicas and Guoqing Chang and Titus Neupert and Hechang Lei and Hasan, \{M. Zahid\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 American Chemical Society.",

year = "2025",

month = jul,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c01695",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "25",

pages = "10386--10394",

journal = "Nano Letters",

issn = "1530-6984",

publisher = "American Chemical Society",

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Litskevich, M, Hossain, MS, Fu, Y, Miao, H, Jiang, Y, Cheng, G, Chen, P, Zhang, Q, Cheng, ZJ, Acevedo-Esteves, R, Nelson, C, Wang, H, Gonzalez Jimenez, JL, Casas, B, Liu, X, Tsirkin, SS, Dagnino, K, Zhang, S, Hsu, CH, Shao, S, Xu, S, Cochran, TA, Yang, XP, Xu, H, Yin, J, Gerasimenko, YA, Xie, W, Yao, N, Balicas, L, Chang, G, Neupert, T, Lei, H & Hasan, MZ 2025, 'Discovery of a Stripe Phase in an Elemental Solid', Nano Letters, vol. 25, no. 26, pp. 10386-10394. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c01695

TY - JOUR

T1 - Discovery of a Stripe Phase in an Elemental Solid

AU - Litskevich, Maksim

AU - Hossain, Md Shafayat

AU - Fu, Yang

AU - Miao, Hu

AU - Jiang, Yuxiao

AU - Cheng, Guangming

AU - Chen, Pengcheng

AU - Zhang, Qi

AU - Cheng, Zi Jia

AU - Acevedo-Esteves, Raul

AU - Nelson, Christie

AU - Wang, Haozhe

AU - Gonzalez Jimenez, Jose L.

AU - Casas, Brian

AU - Liu, Xiaoxiong

AU - Tsirkin, Stepan S.

AU - Dagnino, Kouta

AU - Zhang, Songbo

AU - Hsu, Chia Hsiu

AU - Shao, Sen

AU - Xu, Shaogang

AU - Cochran, Tyler A.

AU - Yang, Xian P.

AU - Xu, Hu

AU - Yin, Jiaxin

AU - Gerasimenko, Yaroslav A.

AU - Xie, Weiwei

AU - Yao, Nan

AU - Balicas, Luis

AU - Chang, Guoqing

AU - Neupert, Titus

AU - Lei, Hechang

AU - Hasan, M. Zahid

PY - 2025/7/2

Y1 - 2025/7/2

N2 - Translational symmetry breaking is foundational to condensed matter physics because it is associated with crystal formation. At much lower energy scales, the breaking of crystalline translational symmetry can be driven by electronic, rather than ionic, degrees of freedom and may give rise to stripe order, a unidirectional ordered state. Such symmetry breaking has been seen in two-dimensional and strongly correlated systems. Here, for the first time, we report the observation of stripe order in an elemental solid, tellurium. Through topographic and spectroscopic imaging, we discover a commensurate 4 × 1 stripe phase. Surprisingly, this exotic order is so robust that it survives close to room temperature. Notably, our diffraction experiments confirm the bulk nature of the stripe order, showing the minuteness of potential lattice distortion associated with the order. Our discovery of the stripe order in tellurium opens new windows to understanding the spontaneous symmetry breaking in elemental solids.

AB - Translational symmetry breaking is foundational to condensed matter physics because it is associated with crystal formation. At much lower energy scales, the breaking of crystalline translational symmetry can be driven by electronic, rather than ionic, degrees of freedom and may give rise to stripe order, a unidirectional ordered state. Such symmetry breaking has been seen in two-dimensional and strongly correlated systems. Here, for the first time, we report the observation of stripe order in an elemental solid, tellurium. Through topographic and spectroscopic imaging, we discover a commensurate 4 × 1 stripe phase. Surprisingly, this exotic order is so robust that it survives close to room temperature. Notably, our diffraction experiments confirm the bulk nature of the stripe order, showing the minuteness of potential lattice distortion associated with the order. Our discovery of the stripe order in tellurium opens new windows to understanding the spontaneous symmetry breaking in elemental solids.

KW - X-ray diffraction

KW - charge order

KW - chiral crystals

KW - phase transitions

KW - scanning tunneling microscopy

KW - semiconductors

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105008878061

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105008878061#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c01695

DO - 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c01695

M3 - Article

C2 - 40524650

SN - 1530-6984

VL - 25

SP - 10386

EP - 10394

JO - Nano Letters

JF - Nano Letters

IS - 26

ER -

Discovery of a Stripe Phase in an Elemental Solid

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

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