Uniaxial Strain Control of Competing Charge Density Wave Phases in Rare-Earth Tritellurides

The tunability and control of competing ordered phases is a contemporary theme in condensed matter physics. To that end, we study competing a and c order charge density wave (CDW) states in GdTe3 under photoexcitation and application of anisotropic strain. The quench-recovery dynamics were driven and observed by a x-ray pump probe experiment performed at the XPP endstation at LCLS. We observe the emergence of an a order CDW peak upon application of strain along the a-axis. Additionally, photoexcitation of the strained sample further transiently enhances the a order state and suppresses the dominant c-axis CDW. These results reveal information about the free energy landscape and the relationship between competing orders in materials with complex phase diagrams, which is key to devising strategies to stabilize the order parameter and control broken symmetries in quantum materials.