Fermi surface nesting and charge-density wave formation in rare-earth tritellurides

The Fermi surface of rare-earth tritellurides (RTe₃) is investigated in terms of the nesting-driven charge-density wave formation using positron annihilation and first-principles linear muffin-tin orbital calculations. Fermi surface nesting is revealed as a strong candidate for driving charge-density wave formation in these compounds. The nesting vector obtained from positron annihilation experiments on GdTe₃ is determined to be q=(0.28±0.02,0,0)a* (a*=2π∕a), in excellent agreement with previous experimental and theoretical studies.