Room temperature charge density wave in a tetragonal polymorph of Gd2Os3Si5 and study of its origin in the RE2T3X5 (RE = Rare earth, T = transition metal, X = Si, Ge) series

Charge density wave (CDW) systems are proposed to exhibit application potential for electronic and optoelectronic devices. Therefore, identifying new materials that exhibit a CDW state at room temperature is crucial for the development of CDW-based devices. Here, we present a non-layered tetragonal polymorph of Gd2Os3Si5, which exhibits a CDW state at room temperature. Gd2Os3Si5 crystallizes in the U2Mn3Si5-type tetragonal crystal structure with the space group P4/mnc. Single-crystal x-ray diffraction (SXRD) analysis shows that Gd2Os3Si5 possesses an incommensurately modulated structure with modulation wave vector q = (0.53, 0, 0), while the modulation reduces the symmetry to orthorhombic Cccm(σ00)0s0. This differs in contrast to isostructural Sm2Ru3Ge5, where the modulated phase has been reported to possess the superspace symmetry Pm(α 0 γ)0. However, reinvestigation of Sm2Ru3Ge5 suggests that its modulated crystal structure can alternatively be described by Cccm(σ00)0s0, with modulations similar to Gd2Os3Si5. The magnetic susceptibility, ḩi̧(T), exhibits a maximum at low temperatures that indicates an antiferromagnetic transition at TN = 5.5 K. The ḩi̧(T) furthermore shows an anomaly at around 345 K, suggesting a CDW transition at TCDW = 345 K, that corroborates the result from high-temperature SXRD measurements. Interestingly, R2T3X5 compounds are known to crystallize either in the tetragonal Sc2Fe3Si5 type structure or in the orthorhombic U2Co3Si5 structure type. Not all of the compounds in the R2T3X5 series undergo CDW phase transitions. We find that R2T3X5 compounds will exhibit a CDW transition, if the condition : 0.526 < c/sqrt(ab) < 0.543 is satisfied. We suggest the wave vector-dependent electron-phonon coupling to be the dominant mechanism of CDW formation in the tetragonal polymorph of Gd2Os3Si5.