X-ray Diffuse Scattering Study of Local Distortions in Fe1+xTe Induced by Excess Fe

We report x-ray diffuse scattering studies of the iron chalcogenide Fe1+xTe as a function of doping and temperature for x = 0.03, 0.08, and 0.12. In all cases, remarkably strong, characteristic diffuse scattering is observed. This scattering extends throughout the Brillouin zone and exhibits a nonmonotonic decay away from the fundamental Bragg peaks, with a peaklike structure at a reduced q ∼ (0.3,0,0.6). We interpret this scattering as Huang diffuse scattering resulting from distortions induced by the interaction between the excess Fe and the FeTe layers. The form of the scattering indicates that this interaction is strong and extends a number of unit cells away from the interstitial Fe site. Further, the diffuse scattering shows a sudden decrease on cooling through the structural and magnetic phase transition, reflecting the first-order change of the electronic structure of FeTe.