Electron microscopy of the commensurate-incommensurate phase transition with the discommensuration network in 1T-TaS2

Abstract

Phase transitions of lT-TaS2 both on cooling from the incommensurate (IC) phase and on heating from the commensurate (C) phase are investigated by high resolution (HR) transmission electron microscopy because phase transitions are strongly hysteretic. The phases which had been identified were Normal(T>543K,no modurated wave, the Cdl2 type of structure, ao=0.336nm co=0.590nm), IC(354K< T< 543K), NC(non-commensurate or nearly commensurate, 185K<T<353K) and C(T<K). On heating from the C phase, the new phase called the T phase (nearly commensurate triclinic ) appears between 200K and 280K, and that has the discommensuration (DC) network. The HR observations at low temperature reveal both the three dimentional structure of the C phase and the DC network structure of the T phase.On cooling from the IC phase, the structure of the NC phase is essentially incommensurate in the basal plane and a continuous rotation of the moduration direction towards the C phase occurs.