Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Studies of CeTe₂

The RTe₂ (where R = rare-earth ion) compounds are the less-well-studied relatives of the RTe₃ compounds. Whereas the RTe₃ compounds are composed of alternating layers of conducting double Te-planes and insulating R-Te block layers, the RTe₂ compounds are composed of alternating single conducting Te-planes and insulating R-Te block layers. Similar to the RTe₃ compounds, the RTe₂ compounds are quasi 2-dimensional and host charge density wave (CDW) states. A number of techniques, including ARPES and TEM, have been employed to gain insight into the Fermi surface and CDW states in RTe₂ compounds. Whereas STM has been successful in imaging and characterizing CDW states in RTe₃ compounds, including CeTe₃ and TbTe₃, similar comprehensive STM studies have not yet been conducted on the RTe₂ compounds. Here we present our room-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy measurements of CDW states in CeTe₂.