Search for charge-density waves in potassium by neutron diffraction

Abstract

The recently reported direct observation of charge-density waves in potassium by neutron diffraction was checked by high-resolution neutron-diffraction experiments. The observed diffraction pattern is not due to charge-density-wave satellites, but due to double-scattering processes. After eliminating these processes we searched for the charge-density-wave satellites in the theoretically predicted region, but found none. The intensity of any undetected satellites must be at least 2 orders of magnitude lower than predicted.