Atomic-scale strain manipulation of a charge density wave

Gao, Shang; Flicker, Felix; Sankar, Raman; Zhao, Huaizhou; Ren, Zheng; Rachmilowitz, Bryan; Balachandar, Sidhika; Chou, F. C.; Burch, Kenneth S.; Wang, Ziqiang; Wezel, Jasper van; Zeljkovic, Ilija

doi:10.1073/pnas.1718931115

Cited by 63 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…FeSe presents an excellent playground to explore the interplay of electronic nematicity and symmetry breaking strain due to its structural simplicity and the absence of magnetic ordering that is present in many other Fe-based superconductors 29,30 . In principle, various experimental methods can be used to apply strain to a material, such as voltage-controlled piezoelectric setups 11,13,25,31,32 , mechanical actuators 27 , differential thermal contraction 24,33 , and heteroepitaxial film growth [34][35][36][37] . In this work, we use molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to grow FeSe thin films (a = 3.8 Å) on SrTiO 3 (001), a substrate with a~2% lattice mismatch (a = 3.9 Å) ( Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoscale decoupling of electronic nematicity and structural anisotropy in FeSe thin films

Ren

Zhao

et al. 2021

Nat Commun

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In a material prone to a nematic instability, anisotropic strain in principle provides a preferred symmetry-breaking direction for the electronic nematic state to follow. This is consistent with experimental observations, where electronic nematicity and structural anisotropy typically appear hand-in-hand. In this work, we discover that electronic nematicity can be locally decoupled from the underlying structural anisotropy in strain-engineered iron-selenide (FeSe) thin films. We use heteroepitaxial molecular beam epitaxy to grow FeSe with a nanoscale network of modulations that give rise to spatially varying strain. We map local anisotropic strain by analyzing scanning tunneling microscopy topographs, and visualize electronic nematic domains from concomitant spectroscopic maps. While the domains form so that the energy of nemato-elastic coupling is minimized, we observe distinct regions where electronic nematic ordering fails to flip direction, even though the underlying structural anisotropy is locally reversed. The findings point towards a nanometer-scale stiffness of the nematic order parameter.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoscale decoupling of electronic nematicity and structural anisotropy in FeSe thin films

Ren

Zhao

et al. 2021

Nat Commun

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“…The height of the corrugation is in the range of tens of picometers, comparably small as that of other stain-induced corrugations [44][45][46] . Without an atomic resolution in this experiment, we cannot make a quantitative analysis of the strain based on precise determination of atomic displacement 34,46 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possible strain induced Mott gap collapse in 1T-TaS2

Zhang

et al. 2019

Commun Phys

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Tuning the electronic properties of a matter is of fundamental interest in scientific research as well as in applications. Recently, the Mott insulator-metal transition has been reported in a pristine layered transition metal dichalcogenides 1T -TaS 2 , with the transition triggered by an optical excitation, a gate controlled intercalation, or a voltage pulse. However, the sudden insulatormetal transition hinders an exploration of how the transition evolves. Here, we report the strain as a possible new tuning parameter to induce Mott gap collapse in 1T -TaS 2 . In a strain-rich area, we find a mosaic state with distinct electronic density of states within different domains. In a corrugated surface, we further observe and analyze a smooth evolution from a Mott gap state to a metallic state. Our results shed new lights on the understanding of the insulator-metal transition and promote a controllable strain engineering on the design of switching devices in the future. * yiyin@zju.edu.cn 1 arXiv:2005.13311v2 [cond-mat.str-el] 28 May 2020

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“…7 Physical models also suggest that protruding nanoscale surface domains on nanoparticles can induce sufficient membrane deformation to promote their more efficient engulfment. [16][17][18] Thus, framboidal surface character could be advantageous not only for targeting cancer cells that express SR-B1 but also for enhanced endocytosis. Furthermore, unlike the equivalent smooth nanoparticles, Hu and co-workers 7 demonstrated that nanoparticles comprising protruding nanodomains could bypass endolysosomal compartments and efficiently deliver drugs to the nuclear region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…15 Moreover, protruding nanodomains can induce lipid bilayer deformation, which should in turn enhance the kinetics of cell uptake. [16][17][18] Indeed, nanoscale surface roughness is well-known to promote both protein receptor binding and the intracellular uptake of nanoparticles. 19,20 Furthermore, the Dengue fever virus also possesses pH-sensitive surface domains that undergo conformational changes during infection which facilitate its timely exit from the endosomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Targeting triple-negative breast cancer cells using Dengue virus-mimicking pH-responsive framboidal triblock copolymer vesicles

et al. 2019

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It is well-known that the Dengue fever virus undergoes a distinct morphological transition from topologically smooth particles to 'bumpy' particle on increasing the temperature from that of the mosquito carrier (28 C) to that of the human host (37 C). This virus also possesses pH-sensitive surface domains that undergo conformational changes during infection which facilitates exit from the endosomes. Herein we take a bio-inspired approach to design synthetic Dengue virus-mimicking nanoparticles to target triple-negative (TN) breast cancer cells that overexpress SR-B1 scavenger receptors. Thus, sterile pH-responsive methacrylic ABC triblock copolymer vesicles were prepared in aqueous solution via polymerization-induced self-assembly. Microphase separation between two enthalpically-incompatible hydrophobic membrane-forming blocks produced a well-defined framboidal morphology, with surface globules of $28 nm diameter protruding from the membrane. The hydrophilic stabilizer block comprises 97% hydroxyl-functionalized chains and 3% phosphorylcholine-functionalized chains, with the latter being critical for selective intracellular uptake. These framboidal vesicles remain intact at neutral pH but become swollen and cationic at pH 5-6 because the tertiary amine residues in the hydrophobic C block become protonated. We demonstrate that such nanoparticles enable selective targeting of TN breast cancer cells. This is because such malignant cells overexpress SR-B1 receptors for naturally-occurring phospholipids and hence take up the phosphorylcholine-decorated framboidal vesicles preferentially. In contrast, negligible cell uptake is observed over the same time period for both human dermal fibroblasts and normal breast cancer cells that minimally express the SR-B1 receptor.Moreover, we show that genetic material within such pH-responsive framboidal vesicles can be efficiently delivered to the cell nuclei while maintaining high cell viability. ; Tel: +44 (0)114 222 1093 † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Full experimental details for the synthesis and characterization of the copolymer vesicles, assigned 1 H NMR spectra, GPC traces, bioburden and MTT test results, ow cytometry scavenger receptor expression studies, co-localization studies and a table of structural parameters obtained from SAXS analysis are provided. See Fig. 1 Synthesis of fluorescently-labelled PGMA 58 -P(HPMA 300 -stat-GlyMARh 1 ) diblock copolymer vesicles (denoted G 58 -(H 300 -stat-ERh 1 ), where m ¼ 100 and n ¼ 0) and (97 PGMA 58 + 3 PMPC 60 )-P(HPMA 300 -stat-GlyMARh 1 ) diblock copolymer vesicles (denoted (97 G 58 + 3 M 60 )-(H 300 -stat-ERh 1 )-D 52 where m ¼ 97 and n ¼ 3) via RAFT aqueous dispersion polymerization. Corresponding schematic cartoons are also shown for each type of precursor vesicle, where PGMA ¼ red, PMPC ¼ green, P(HPMA-stat-ERh 1 ) ¼ blue. RAFT endgroups are omitted from chemical structures to aid clarity.This journal is

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Atomic-scale strain manipulation of a charge density wave

Cited by 63 publications

References 43 publications

Nanoscale decoupling of electronic nematicity and structural anisotropy in FeSe thin films

Nanoscale decoupling of electronic nematicity and structural anisotropy in FeSe thin films

Possible strain induced Mott gap collapse in 1T-TaS2

Targeting triple-negative breast cancer cells using Dengue virus-mimicking pH-responsive framboidal triblock copolymer vesicles

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