Two-coupled structural modulations in charge-density-wave state of SrPt2As2 superconductor

Transmission electron microscopy （TEM） study of SrPt2As2 reveals two incommensurate modulations appearing in the charge-density-wave （CDW） state below TCDW ≈ 470 K. These two structural modulations can be well explained in terms of condensations of two-coupled phonon modes with wave vectors of q1=0.62a＊ on the a＊-b＊ plane and q2 = 0.23a＊ on the a＊-c＊ plane. The atomic displacements occur along the b-axis direction for q1 and along the c-axis direction for q2, respectively. Moreover, the correlation between ql and q2 can be generally written as q1 = （q2 ＋ a＊）/2 in the CDW state, suggesting the presence of essential coupling between q1 and q2. A small fraction of Ir doping on the Pt site in Sr（Pt1-xIrx）2As2 （x ≤ 0.06） could moderately change these CDW modulations and also affect their superconductivities.