Fano line shape and anti-crossing of Raman active E2g peaks in the charge density wave state of NbSe2 Original Research Article

Low energy Raman scattering from the ab-plane of the 2H polytype single crystal NbSe2 has been investigated in the normal (N), incommensurate charge density wave (ICDW) and superconducting (SC) phases. The temperature dependence of the polarization resolved Raman response has been obtained for the excitation wavelength of 647 nm and fitted to phenomenological models for the E2g and A1g symmetry channels. The A1g response can be fitted by a simple damped oscillator peak superimposed on continuous background. The E2g response displays an anti-resonance interference pattern between the inter-layer phonon and the CDW-induced mode such that a hybridized configuration (Fano line shape [1]) is required for modelling. The polarization specific peak maxima positions and line widths as a function of temperature, deduced in this manner, are presented. Partial suppression of the electronic continuum scattering in the Raman shift range up to 110 cm−1 in the A1g symmetry channel and beyond 300 cm−1 in the E2g symmetry channel is indicative of high energy electronic states far away from the Fermi surface participating in the ICDW formation.