Emergent Electronic Bond-Order Wave in a Quasi-One-Dimensional Chain

RESUMO

Collective order is notoriously difficult to stabilize in one dimension, where strong fluctuations suppress symmetry-breaking states. Here we report the emergence of an electronic bond-order wave (BOW) in the quasi-one-dimensional (1D) material Ba9Rh8O24, in which structural bonds become active electronic degrees of freedom that overcome 1D fluctuations to establish long-range order. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction uncovers a striking inversion of inequivalent Rh-Rh bonds across a transition TA = 180 K, where short and long bonds interchange their identities rather than undergoing conventional Peierls dimerization. This bond inversion coincides with a heat-capacity anomaly and a profound reorganization of the dielectric response with strong suppression of dielectric loss upon cooling. The BOW exhibits strongly nonlinear, frequency-dependent I-V characteristics, clockwise hysteresis, and nonvolatile memristive switching. These findings uncover an unprecedented transformation from a dynamic bond liquid to a rigid yet electrically reconfigurable BOW, establishing bond-centered electronic order as a new organizing principle for 1D quantum matter.