Pressure dependence of the local structure of iridium ditelluride across the structural phase transition

The local structure of IrTe2 has been studied by iridium L3-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements as a function of pressure, performed at two temperatures (100 and 295 K) across the structural phase transition at ∼270 K. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra show pressure-dependent anomalies, suggesting phase transitions that are characterized by different local atomic displacements. The high-temperature phase of IrTe2 (trigonal at 295 K) reveals a clear anomaly in the Ir-Te correlations at ∼4 GPa, while the low-temperature phase (at 100 K) shows a smaller change at ∼6 GPa, likely to be associated with transitions in lower-symmetry phases. XANES spectra, measuring higher-order atomic correlations, also show nonlinear pressure dependence in the local geometry at the anomalous pressures. These nonlinear changes suggest that IrTe2 goes through lower local symmetry phases with increasing pressure.